Kathmandu, May 10
Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali says the government was aware of India constructing a link road to Lipulekh encroaching on the Nepali land since a long ago. He says the government also raised its concerns over the issue to the Indian authorities, lamenting they, however, did not listen to Nepal.
One day after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially objected to the project, the minister attended a meeting of the International Relations and Labour Committee in Parliament on Sunday morning to express helplessness of the government, informing the government had been collecting details about the newly inaugurated road project via its embassy in New Delhi.
According to him, India encroached on a 19-km stretch recently.
“The government was aware of this issue, but we reached this state today as they did not pay attention to our request,” the minister told the lawmakers who asked him why the government could not stop India from launching this project. According to him, the project was designed in 1999 and endorsed in 2005 whereas actual construction works began in 2008. It was expedited with Narendra Modi’s election in 2014.
While expressing helplessness, the minister, however, maintained, “The Kali River is our frontier. We have not accepted any unilateral decision. We will not.”
