KATHMANDU: Finance Minister Rameshwar Khanal and Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava held talks at Singha Durbar on Tuesday afternoon.
The two engaged in a lengthy discussion on contemporary issues. What drew particular attention was that the talks were held in Khanal’s office, under the controversial political map of Nepal that includes Limpiyadhura, Kalapani, and Lipulekh.
India has not recognized this revised map, which Nepal claims as its sovereign territory. India has diplomatically rejected Nepal’s assertions, while China has gone ahead with an agreement with India to conduct trade through Lipulekh. Khanal had also previously met Chinese Ambassador Chen Song under the same disputed map.
Earlier, then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had stated at the Shanghai summit that Lipulekh was Nepali territory and that Nepal could not accept the India-China agreement over it. His planned visit to India, set for mid-September, was thrown into uncertainty before Oli resigned on September 9 amid the Gen-Z protests.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Ambassador Srivastava conveyed India’s readiness to support the newly formed government that emerged after the protests. He assured that India would continue assistance for Nepal’s development projects as before.
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