KATHMANDU: At a time when India-Nepal ties have reached a historic low due to the boundary dispute that erupted last year, Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane will visit the neighbouring country in November, the Nepal Army announced on Wednesday.
The dispute had begun in November last year after India released a new political map incorporating some disputed territory. Since then, there have been no high-level visits from both sides as Kathmandu is looking for a date to hold boundary talks with India at Foreign Secretary level to resolve the dispute but India has shown little enthusiasm.
Though the dates of his visit are yet to be fixed by both sides, top Nepal government officials told IANS that the visit could take place from November 3 at the invitation of his Nepali counterpart, General Purna Chandra Thapa.
The dispute in November thickened after India opened a new track in the disputed area on May 8. Later, Naravane accused Nepal of propping up the boundary issue against India on someone’s behest, alluding to China.
His statement came a week after Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh opened a track in Lipulekh area that Nepal has been claiming as its own territory. Nepal says that a chunk of land, Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura belong to its territory as per Treaty of Sugauli signed between the then East India Company and Nepal government in 1816.
India has maintained that talks are possible only after the Covid pandemic is over. The visit was approved by the Government of Nepal on February 3, 2020 but was postponed due to the lockdown in both the countries, the army said in a statement.
The purpose of the visit is to get conferred the honorary rank of General of the Nepali Army. President Vidya Devi Bhandari will confer the honorary rank of General of the Nepali Army to General Naravane in an investiture ceremony during his visit, the statement reads.
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