KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 15
Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has clarified the House of Representatives regarding the remark he made during bilateral talks in India that 'the current government carries no old baggage.'
The clarification came in response to a question from Nepali Congress legislator Sita Thapaliya (Urmila), who asked Khanal to explain the meaning of the remark, which specific decisions of past governments he considered baggage and what mistakes, in his view, past governments had made in their foreign policy.
"What exactly does old baggage mean? Which specific decisions made by past governments constitute baggage?" Thapaliya asked in the House. "Is the decision to incorporate the map - including Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura - into the Constitution considered old baggage?"
Responding, Khanal said his remark was intended to convey a break from the internal political polarisation and the narrow political weaponisation of foreign policy and diplomacy that had characterised the past - and made clear it was not directed at Nepal's dignified history, national heritage, sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence, protection of national interest, or the preservation of historical documents.
He said it would be an exaggeration to interpret his remark as running counter to the continuity of the state and government or to the nation's heritage.
"To interpret this remark as contrary to the established political principle that 'the state and government are institutions of continuous succession,' or as contrary to the nation's heritage, would be an exaggeration," Khanal said. "What I sought to convey clearly was this: The wrongful practice of turning relations with neighbouring countries into a tool of internal political gain and loss is itself the burden of the past - and the current government is firmly committed to discarding that practice and moving forward."
He said Nepal's political map - incorporating Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura - and the parliamentary constitutional amendment that endorsed it represent a unanimous decision of Parliament and the shared national resolve of the Nepali people as a whole.
"Nepal's political map incorporating Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura, and the parliamentary constitutional amendment that endorsed it, are a unanimous decision of Parliament and the shared national resolve of the entire Nepali people," Khanal said. "This is our constitutional and sovereign document, and it cannot, under any circumstances, be considered a burden."
Khanal noted that Nepal has always placed the highest priority on its relations with its neighbours and friendly nations and said high-level visits play an important role in further strengthening bilateral relations. He carried out official visits to India from June 5 to 7, 2026 and to China from June 13 to 17, 2026.