Political analysts in Nepal favour diplomatic solution to border row with India

Political analysts in Nepal on Saturday favoured a diplomatic solution to the Lipulekh and Kalapani border dispute with India even as they sharply reacted to Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane's recent remarks on the issue.

The Lipulekh pass is a far western point near Kalapani, a disputed border area between Nepal and India. Both India and Nepal claim Kalapani as an integral part of their territory - India as part of Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district and Nepal as part of Dharchula district.

Gen Naravane on Friday said there were reasons to believe that Nepal objected to India's newly-inaugurated road linking Lipulekh Pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand at the behest of "someone else", in an apparent reference to a possible role by China on the matter.

"It is easy to deflect attention and shift the blame to another country, whereas the truth is that the road crosses the Mahakali River and enters Nepal's territory," Nepal's former foreign secretary Madhuraman Acharya said.

Senior journalist Kanakmani Dikshit advised the Nepal government to use track I or II diplomacy to resolve the border issue with India.

"As Nepal-India relations spiral, there's a need for furious back-channel diplomacy, does not matter whether it is Track One, Two or Ten," he tweeted. "Amidst the certitude in New Delhi and chaos in Kathmandu, however, I wonder if anyone has time/wants to think of this."
"The deplorable and undiplomatic remarks of Gen Naravane, who is the honorary General of the Nepal Army, reflect the very character & mindset of the Indian Government, & India's haugnty approach about ongoing border dispute!"