(This story originally appeared in on Dec 31, 2019)

NEW DELHI: The disputed Kalapani area belonged to Nepal and the issue must be addressed soon to prevent irritants in bilateral ties, Nepal’s ambassador to India Nilambar Acharya told TOI on Tuesday as Kathmandu mounted pressure on New Delhi to resolve the boundary issue soon.The Kalapani border dispute flared up again recently after India released its new political map, following the reorganisation of J&K, showing the area at a China-Nepal-India tri-junction as its own.Acharya said there was a foreign secretary-level mechanism between India and Nepal to resolve issues related to outstanding border disputes and it needed to be used to address the Kalapani dispute. “That’s the way to go about it. Even according to the Treaty of Sugauli (which established the boundary of Nepal in 1815), Kalapani belongs to Nepal. That’s the sentiment the citizens of Nepal share,’’ he said.“We understand India is not averse to dialogue but Nepal would like to have early talks about the issue. Nepal does not see Kalapani as a small issue. It will further help build trust between the two countries if this issue is resolved. Such disputes should not be allowed to fester,’’ added Acharya, as he mentioned that close to 98 per cent of Nepal’s border with India was already settled.Nepal is learnt to have earlier proposed a date for dialogue over the issue but the Indian side was apparently not prepared. The two countries are said to be in touch diplomatically to finalise a date for talks on the issue.India claims Kalapani, where the Lipulekh China-Nepal-India tri-junction is located, as a part of Uttarakhand. This though is bitterly contested by Nepal, which depicts the area in its map. After India released its new map, Nepal officially lodged a protest and declared that it remained committed to protecting its international borders. India had said in response that the new map had “in no manner revised our boundary with Nepal”.Nepal has two tri-junctions with China and India — Lipulekh in the Kalapani area in western Nepal and Jhinsang Chuli in the east. Kalapani is such an emotive issue for Nepal and its citizens that India’s decision to expand trade with China through the Lipulekh Pass created a furore in Kathmandu with the Nepal Parliament seeking to know from the government if the India-China agreement undermined Nepal’s sovereignty. The high mountain pass in Kalapani though serves as an important vantage point for India to keep an eye on Chinese movements.While the new Indian map has reignited the Kalapani dispute, the Indian government has other issues too to address quickly to prevent these from impeding progress in bilateral ties. As the ambassador said, the Eminent Persons’ Group report, which seeks a review of the 1950 India-Nepal Friendship Treaty, is yet to be submitted to the Indian government. Nepal also wants an early resumption of the Saarc summit process despite India being opposed to it as the next summit is slated for Islamabad.