KATHMANDU: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, Chitra Bahadur KC, said Nepal's sovereignty and independence would cease to exist if the plain land of Tarai region was separated from the hills in demarcation of federal units.

Speaking at an interaction at the Reporters' Club Nepal in the Capital on Saturday, KC said such a division would be unacceptable for the government as Tarai, hills and mountains are interdependent.

An outspoken anti-federalism advocate, KC hinted that foreign forces were responsible for raising demands for such demarcation.

"We cannot demarcate the borders to serve anyone's wills," he said, "We do not do anything that would harm integrity and sovereignty."

Meanwhile, the Deputy Prime Minister accused India of deliberately imposing a blockade on Nepal, though it could not announce it due to international norms and values.

He claimed that the blockade could not last long, but could not be solved within few days either.