Amid border row with India, Nepal govt tables Bill in Parliament to amend Constitution for new map

Kathmandu, May 31

The Nepal authorities on Sunday tabled a Constitution modification Bill in Parliament geared toward altering the nation’s map amid a border dispute with India.

Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Shivamaya Tumbahangphe, on behalf of the federal government of Nepal, tabled the Bill, a day after the principle Opposition Nepali Congress additionally backed the laws.

It would be the second modification to the Constitution.

Nepal just lately launched the revised political and administrative map of the nation, laying declare over the strategically key areas of Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura.

India reacted angrily to the transfer saying such “artificial enlargement” of territorial claims won’t be acceptable and requested the neighbouring nation to chorus from such “unjustified cartographic assertion”.

The Bill seeks to amend the political map of Nepal included in Schedule three of the Constitution. The new map might be utilized in all official paperwork, together with the coat of arms, after the modification Bill is endorsed by way of Parliament. 

Parliament will now deliberate on the proposal earlier than endorsing the Bill.

After its endorsement by each the Houses of Parliament, the President will order issuance of the Bill. 

The central committee of the principle Opposition occasion Nepali Congress on Saturday determined to again the Bill.

Last week, the proposed Bill was faraway from the enterprise schedule of Parliament on the final minute on the request of Minister Ok P Sharma Oli.

The dialogue on the Constitution modification Bill was delayed because the Nepali Congress requested for extra time to debate the matter in its high-level physique.

Similarly, the Samajbadi Janata Party Nepal and the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal demanded that their long-standing requires Constitution modification even be included.

It requires a two-thirds majority to endorse the Constitution modification Bill.

During an all-party assembly on Tuesday, Prime Minister Oli urged the highest leaders of all political events represented in parliament to unanimously endorse it.

The ties between India and Nepal got here underneath pressure after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated an 80-km lengthy strategically essential highway connecting the Lipulekh move with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8.

Nepal reacted sharply to the inauguration of the highway claiming that it handed by way of Nepalese territory.

India rejected the declare asserting that the highway lies utterly inside its territory.

Nepalese Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali earlier this month summoned Indian Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra and handed over a diplomatic be aware to protest towards India inaugurating the important thing highway.

However, Gyawali final week stated that he was assured that the Kalapani subject between the 2 neighbours might be resolved by way of talks.

India on Thursday indicated its readiness to have interaction with Nepal to resolve the festering border row primarily based on mutual sensitivity and respect.

India is monitoring the present state of affairs in Nepal, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava stated referring to Kathmandu deferring a plan to usher in a constitutional modification to validate a brand new map that depicted Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as its territory.             

“India is open to engaging with all its neighbours on the basis of mutual sensitivity and mutual respect, in an environment of trust and confidence. This is a continuous process and requires constructive and positive efforts,” Srivastava stated.

The Lipulekh move is a far western level close to Kalapani, a disputed border space between Nepal and India. Both India and Nepal declare Kalapani as an integral a part of their territory—India as a part of Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district and Nepal as a part of Dharchula district. PTI