NEW DELHI: The Nepali Congress, the country’s main Opposition party, will back Nepalese PM KP Sharma Oli’s move to amend the constitution paving way for the Himalayan nation to adopt a new political map which includes the disputed territories of Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura.
The decision to back the amendment was taken at a meeting of the Central Working Committee of the Nepali Congress on Saturday.
Oli’s earlier attempt to table the Bill did not bear fruit as the Nepali Congress had said it would spell out its stand only after the CWC meeting.
OPINION | There goes the neighbourhood
However, the opposition party wants the government to hold dialogue with India. “We stand firmly on the constitution amendment proposal, but we are also equally convinced that we need to initiate talks with India at the political and diplomatic levels,” General Secretary of the Nepali Congress Purna Bahadur Khadka was quoted as saying.
The dispute came into the limelight after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on May 8 inaugurated a road at Lipulekh, a territory which Nepal claims its own. On May 20, the Nepal government released a new political map which included disputed territories.
Territories belong to India
India has said that the territories are an integral and unalienable part of its territory. India and Nepal are mandated by a 1988 agreement to solve all border disputes through dialogue. The MEA is yet to comment.