"Onus of creating conducive atmosphere for talks lies with Nepal PM Oli"

The onus of creating a conducive atmosphere for talks between India and Nepal lies with Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and his dispensation as its release of a new political map was part of a "myopic" agenda to score political gains, official sources said on Monday.

They said the release of the new map by Oli government was an attempt to politicise the boundary issue with India and the move reflected that Kathmandu was not serious in resolving the decades-old issue through dialogue.

Last month, Nepal released a new political map of the country featuring disputed areas of Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura which India has been maintaining as part of its territories.

The communist government headed by Oli on Saturday managed to get a unanimous approval of the lower house of the country's parliament to the new map, prompting India to say that such "artificial enlargement" of territorial claim is untenable.

"These actions are myopic and self serving to further a limited political agenda," a source said reflecting India's assessment of the situation.

The sources said the onus is now on Prime Minister Oli to take positive and concrete steps to create a conducive atmosphere for dialogue.

They said the release of the map and getting legal backing to it is a clear enough indication that the new map is a "tool for political gain" as it is neither supported by facts nor evidence.

The sources said India always responded positively to proposals for talks from Nepal and even reached out to Kathmandu just before the map issue was taken up for discussion by the lower house of the country's parliament.

The sources also rejected Oli's claim that there was a surge in Covid-19 cases in Nepal due to the people who had gone back to the country from India.

It is a false and distorted claim, they said.