INDIA NEPAL BORDER ISSUE AND RELATION Flashcards
BASICS OF INDO NEPAL BORDER
LENGTH -The 1,770 km (1,099.83 mi)
Established-1815
Treaty of Sugauli between Nepal and British Raj
Current shape - 15 August 1947
Independence of the Republic of India from British Raj
SUGAULI TREATY
The Treaty of Sugauli , the treaty that established the boundary line of Nepal, was signed on 4 March 1816 between the East India Company and Guru Gajaraj Mishra following the Anglo-Nepalese War of 1814–16.
Negotiations for a general settlement produced a draft which was initialled at Sagauli in Bihar in December 1815 and required Nepal to give up all territories west and east of its present-day borders, to surrender the entire Tarai and to accept a permanent British representative (or ‘resident’) in Kathmandu. The Nepalese government initially balked at these terms, but agreed to ratify them in March 1816 after Ochterloney occupied the Makwanpur Valley only thirty miles from the capital.[9]
KALAPANI DISPUTE
The Kalapani territory is an area under Indian administration as part of Pithoragarh district in the Kumaon Division of the Uttarakhand state BUT it is also claimed by Nepal since 1997.
According to Nepal’s claim, it lies in Darchula district, Sudurpashchim Province.
The territory represents part of the basin of the Kalapani river, one of the headwaters of the Kali River in the Himalayas at an altitude of 3600–5200 meters.
The Kali River forms the boundary between India and Nepal in this region. However, India states that the headwaters of the river are not included in the boundary. Here the border runs along the watershed. This is a position dating back to British India c. 1865.
Nepal virtually ignored the Kalapani issue — the 35 km2 of area between the Lipu Gad/Kalapani River and the watershed of the river — from 1961 to 1997. In September 1998, Nepal agreed with India that all border disputes, including Kalapani, would be resolved through bilateral talks.
However, despite several rounds of negotiations from 1998 to the present, the issue remains unresolved.[2]
Nepal has laid claim to all the areas east of the Lipu Gad/Kalapani River, their contention being that the Lipu Gad was in fact the Kali River up to its source. They wanted the western border shifted 5.5 km westwards so as to include the Lipulekh Pass.
Indian officials responded that the administrative records dating back to 1830s show that the Kalapani area had been administered as part of the Pithoragarh district (then a part of the Almora district).
India also denied the Nepalese contention that Lipu Gad was the Kali River. In the Indian view, the Kali River begins only after Lipu Gad is joined by other streams arising from the Kalapani springs.
Therefore, the Indian border leaves the midstream of river near Kalapani and follows the high watershed of the streams that join it.
On 20 May 2020, Nepal released a new map of its own territory that expanded its claim an additional 335 square kilometres up to the Kuthi Yankti river, including Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura.
SUSTA DISPUTE
Susta is a disputed territory between Nepal and India. It is administered by India as part of West Champaran district of Bihar. It is claimed by Nepal as part of Susta rural municipality, under West Nawalparasi District in Lumbini Province.
The disputed territory is located on the eastern side of the Gandak river (Narayani River in Nepal). Nepal claims the area a part of West Nawalparasi District under Susta rural municipality (part of ward no. 5), alleging that over 14,860 hectares of Nepali land in Susta has been encroached upon by India while India claims “Susta” to be a part of West Champaran district.
According to the Sugauli Treaty signed between British East India Company and Nepal in 1816, the Gandak river is the international boundary and eastern part of the river belongs to India and western part of the river belongs to Nepal. At the time the treaty was signed Susta village was situated west of the river. But, over the years, the Gandak river changed its course and Susta moved to the east side of the river, that is now on the Indian side of the river.
Nepal maintains the Gandak’s course in 1816 to be taken as the fixed international boundary but India claims that land on the eastern side of the river is its own territory.
