New Delhi and Kathmandu discussed the Kalapani border dispute on Saturday in New Delhi, according to visiting Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. Mr. Deuba, together with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressed the media after bilateral discussions and inaugurated the first cross-border rail link between India and Nepal, as India welcomed Nepal into the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
“We talked about the border issue, and I pushed Modiji to fix it by establishing a bilateral mechanism,” Mr. Deuba added. The Nepalese leader’s visit is the first since the Kalapani border dispute occurred in November 2019, when India’s updated political map depicted the triangle area of Kalapani-Lipulek-Limpiyadhura as part of Uttarakhand’s jurisdiction. Kathmandu retaliated by including a redesigned political map of Nepal in the country’s national symbol. Both sides were supposed to meet via a mechanism led by the Foreign Secretaries to discuss the problem, but that meeting has yet to be announced.
Train Link to connect Nepal with India
The two leaders cut the ribbon on the Jaynagar-Kurtha train link, which would connect Nepal’s Janakpur with India. During the ceremonial event conducted at the Hyderabad House, India also launched the RuPay card in Nepal. “The close connection between India and Kathmandu has no comparison anywhere in the globe,” Mr. Modi said at the meeting. He praised Mr. Deuba’s intention to travel to Varanasi on Sunday, where he will pay a visit to the Vishwanath shrine.
New Delhi and Kathmandu have been collaborating to create a tourism circuit that connects the two countries’ holy sites. Varanasi’s Vishwanath temple is part of that goal, which aims to connect pilgrims with Kathmandu’s Pashupatinath temple.
Mr. Modi also mentioned coordinated efforts to combat illegal activity and criminality on both sides of the border. New Delhi and Kathmandu share an open border, and both countries are expected to take steps to improve security along the border.