China urges India and Nepal to resolve Kalapani dispute with bilateral cooperation

China has said that the issue of Kalapani is a bilateral matter between Nepal and India and urged the two countries to corporate on the same. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson made the comments during a press briefing on Tuesday, May 19. 

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China urges India and Nepal to resolve Kalapani issue bilaterally

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said, "The issue of Kalapani is between Nepal and India. We hope the two countries will resolve their differences properly through friendly consultations and refrain from taking any unilateral action that may complicate the situation."

India and Nepal are currently in a standoff after the Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli told the parliament that "Kalapani, Limpiyadhura, and Lipulekh belong to Nepal. We will get them back.” The comments were made a day after Nepal released a map which showed that the mentioned territories were a part of its region.

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On Tuesday, the Nepali informed the parliament that he had spoken to Chinese authorities regarding the same. "Our government representatives have spoken with Chinese authorities. The Chinese authorities have said that the India-China agreement was about expanding an old trade route for pilgrimage purposes, and it won’t affect the position of the tri-juncture and issue of borders,” said KP Sharma Oli.

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Regarding the construction of the road, India's Ministry of External Affairs had earlier said, "We have seen the press release dated May 9, 2020 issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal pertaining to the inauguration of a road in India. The road follows the pre-existing route used by the pilgrims of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. Under the present project, the same road has been made pliable for the ease and convenience of pilgrims, locals, and traders.”

Earlier, Indian Army Chief General MM Naravane said that Nepal was acting at the "behest of someone else". When asked about the dispute, he said, "I do not see any contradiction at all. The Nepal ambassador has said area east of the river (Kalapani) is theirs. And the road is west of it. So I don’t know what they are agitating about. There are issues where the tri-junction should be. They [Nepal] may have raised the issue at the behest of someone else."

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