Indo-Nepal relation had scaled a dizzy height following the invitation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his Nepali counterpart, K P Oli. But it took a nose-dive again resembling a meteoric rise and fall. It happened immediately after the news of the conduction of trade between India and China through an area that does not belong to either country.

That this territory belongs to Nepal is evident from several available information. Foremost of them is the map published in 1827 by British India, which was collected from the American Library of Congress by boundary expert Buddhi Narayan Shrestha. This map was published after the agreement was reached between Nepal and British India on March 4, 1816 following the end of the 16-month-long Anglo Nepal war that had started on November 1, 1814.

The agreement mentions that the territory east of the Kali River belongs to Nepal. Given that Limpiyadhura is the source of the Kali River, it obviously belongs to Nepal. The other map published by British India in 1856 is available in the British Library. Yet another map, published by India based on the survey carried out by British India is also available for study. All these maps indicate Nepali ownership of Limpiyadhura, Lipu Lake, and Kalapani.

The above claim is supported by the payment of land taxes to one Bom Shaha, a Nepali courtier by the inhabitants of this area after being asked where to pay it and subsequently directed to do so. A similar order was issued by the Acting Chief Secretary Azam in the following year in 1817. Later, in 1961, the census of this area was carried out by late Bhairab Risal, a renowned Nepali journalist. The voting by the people of this area in the Nepali General Election of 2015 is glaring evidence of the Nepali claim.

This problem raised its ugly head when Indian soldiers occupied this area after the Indo-China war. King Mahendra kept mum for fear of appearing as taking sides in the conflict. It is also said that the king did so to ensure his retention of power. After independence from the Rana regime in 1950, the government of Matrika Prasad Koirala decided to decrease the number of military personnel and increase their efficiency instead with the support of India in 1951. It is in this context that the Indian Military established 17 check-posts in the northern border of Nepal. They withdrew from the Nepali northern territory in 1969, but in Kalapani they continued their presence.

After the restoration of multi-party system in Nepal, this issue again came to the fore. Consequently, an Indo-Nepal United Technical Border Committee was set up in 1991 to solve this problem for ever. It resolved almost 98 per cent of the problems but not the Kalapani issue. The newly-formed Border Working Group, after the dissolution of this committee, also could not solve it. Later during the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Nepal in 2014, an agreement was made to direct the foreign secretaries of the two countries to solve this vexing problem, but it also ended in a fiasco. These problems have been continually raised during the visits of Sher Bahadur Deuba and Prachanda in 2021 and 2023, respectively.

India-Nepal relations slumped considerably when Modi agreed to start the Indo- China trade during his visit to China in 2015 through the Lipu Lek pass from the land that does not belong to either country. It was further aggravated by the inauguration of a road from Pithauragadh to Lipu Lake by its Defense Minister Raj Nath Singh. Nepal had sent a diplomatic note expressing dissatisfaction over the Indo-Chinese complicity in this affair one after another.

India kept mum, but China had said that it would revisit the agreement upon the reception of authentic proof by Nepal. Nepal sent the historic documents justifying Nepal's claim to both the countries, to which neither country sent any response. Instead, they have gone ahead with the bilateral decision for trade.

Nepal has been amazed that two superpowers, India and China, have ignored the territorial right of the sandwiched neighbour although both believe in Panchsheel, the five principles of peaceful existence. But history has shown how such a stance does not last for long. Britain had colonised the entire world, including India and China, through sheer power and treachery, but it had to eventually retreat to its Islandic form. Powerful countries have dwindled beyond imagination, and starving countries like India and China at one time are now among the five most developed nations at the moment.

It is in this context that a way forward has to be made. The continuation of the present stance by India and China brings a bad image to either country as it would mean naked annexation of a neighbouring country. There are quite a few examples of peacefully-resolved triangular friction for emulation by both the countries. One of them is the border between Germany, Switzerland, and France, popularly known as Dreilandereck, near Basel. It has been developed into a tourist hub with the erection of a beautiful statue. Similarly, no flashpoint has occurred in Germany, Poland, Czech as well as Austria, Hungary, Slovakia triangular interfaces.

Two approaches can resolve this problem very amiably. Firstly, India and China should admit Nepal's ownership of the territory as verified by historical evidence. Secondly, Nepal should allow the area for the conduction of bilateral trade by charging a suitable tax. This will be a win-win situation for all the three neighbouring countries. It will also repair the image of India and China, which has been presently impaired beyond imagination following the attempt to annex the neighbouring territory. Needless to say that countries aspiring to lead the world should first demonstrate their excellent performance in their own neighbourhood.