India & Nepal to resolve border issues bilaterally, says Foreign Minister Khanal

Rejecting any third-party mediation, Nepali Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal has said that the government wants to resolve border issues with India bilaterally.

"What I would like to clarify in this esteemed House is that the Nepal-India border is a bilateral issue and Nepal is always committed to resolving this problem through diplomatic dialogue and negotiations based on historical treaties, agreements and maps," Khanal told the Nepali parliament on Wednesday.

Khanal further said the Nepal-India Boundary Working Group (BWG) and other bilateral bodies have resumed work in areas where progress had been stalled for years. He did not go into the specifics.

The statement comes weeks after Nepali Prime Minister Balen Shah suggested that the United Kingdom should also be involved in the talks related to India and Nepal's border issues. India had flatly rejected any third-party mediation.

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This is the second time when Khanal has clarified the government's stance. Last week, during his visit to India, he said that all disputes would be resolved though “existing bilateral mechanisms based on evidence and facts”, not through any third-party mediation.

Khanal's visit to India on June 5-7 was immediately after Rabi Lamichhane, the chief of Nepal's ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), visited India and held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

These visits came at a sensitive time for India-Nepal relationship as Balen has revived the border dispute and sought to internationalise the dispute. He has also adopted a policy of not meeting government officials below the level of head of government or state. He reportedly refused to meet Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and US envoy Sergio Gor.

After Balen's statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that border issues will only be addressed bilaterally.

“We have established bilateral mechanisms to deal with all aspects of boundary matters. It should be clear to all concerned that there is no role for any third parties in a bilateral matter between India and Nepal,” MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.