The Nepalese government, led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, has formed a five-member committee to analyse its border dispute with China in Nepal’s Humla district.
Headed by the joint secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the committee will present its report to the government on issues related to the Nepal-China border from Limi Lapcha to the rural municipality of Hilsa of Namkha in Humla district; no deadline has been fixed for the submission of the report.
On Wednesday, Law Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said, “A committee comprising Department of Survey, Nepal Police, Armed Police, and Border Experts will be formed under the coordination of Home Ministry Joint Secretary to study the problems in the border area in Humla district.” The Minister added, “It should be noted that China had encroached on Nepali land and built nine buildings in Humla last year.”
In August last year, a provincial lawmaker of the Nepali Congress, Jeevan Bahadur Shai, confirmed land encroachments by the Chinese in the district. In a report, Shai, who was the first to raise his voice on the matter, wrote, “Boundary pillars numbering 9, 10, 11, 12, 5 (1), 6 (1), 7 (1) and 8 (1) were damaged, and pillar No. 12 was replaced with a new one. With the installation of pillar No. 12 inside the Nepali territory, a large chunk of Nepali land has slipped into the Chinese territory.”
After the report became public, the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu wrote to the Nepali Congress and refuted the encroachment allegations.
The report was also dismissed by the former government led by KP Sharma Oli and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry stated that the international boundary demarcated between Nepal and China is based on the Boundary Treaty and Boundary Protocols signed between the two countries. “Nepal and China do not have any boundary dispute, and both sides are in close communication in this respect,” the Ministry added.
However, after the formation of Prime Minister Deuba’s government, senior Congress members demanded a committee to study the encroachments.
Earlier, Deuba was also criticised for not addressing border issues with China in the government’s ‘Common Minimum Programme’. The programme was prepared by seven ruling alliance members, who failed to include the boundary dispute, particularly in the Humla district.