Are Indo-Nepal Relations Improving Again?

by Shatakshi Gupta

Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who has been in the limelight for his anti-India statements, seems to have changed the tone.  Following a meeting with Samant Kumar Goyal, Chief of Indian external intelligence agency RAW, Oli has wished his countrymen Dussehra by tweeting on Saturday. In his tweet, Mr Oli used the old map of Nepal is in his greetings. The old map of Nepal does not include the disputed area of Kalapani in its territory.

 At the behest of China, the Prime Minister of Nepal passed a new map of his country from his Parliament a few months ago, in which many Indian territories were also claimed as part of Nepal.  In a recent development, Oli met with the RAW Chief on Wednesday and the opposition parties of Nepal were not aware of that meeting.  Only after this meeting, Oli tweeted this old map of Nepal, for which Oli is drawing severe criticism from opposition parties in Nepal.

Also read: Escalating bitterness in Indo-Nepal relations

This meeting with RAW chief took place before the visit of Indian Army chief to Nepal.  General Manoj Mukund Narwane is going to visit Nepal next month and this step taken by Prime Minister Oli before his visit to Nepal is a testimony to the strengthening relationship between the two countries again.

 In the map tweeted by the Prime Minister of Nepal in his Dussehra greeting, Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura have not been shown as part of Nepal.  In June this year, the Representative Assembly of Nepal passed a map amending the constitution showing the Indian territories of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura in Nepal.