The Nepalese government has decided to include Kalapani and Lipulekh, a disputed territory claimed by India, on its map.
After a cabinet meeting in Nepal, government spokesman and finance minister Yuvraj Khatiwada said the new map would take effect soon. Khatiwada announced the new map would be used in school-college textbooks, government symbols, and all office-court papers from now on.
According to sources, The recent steps taken by India have played a role in the decision of the Government of Nepal.
Last year India released a new political map showing these two disputed lands as part of their territory. Also, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a link road between Pithauragarh and Lipulekh in the Indian state of Uttarakhand.
India’s Chief of Army Staff Manoj Naravan later commented that the Nepalese government had objected to the link road “on someone else’s instructions”.
Nepal’s Finance Minister Yuvraj Khatiwada said Land Management Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Minister Padma Arial had proposed the new map and the cabinet had agreed to it. So now on Nepal will use this new map with Kalapani and Lipulekh as an official one.
