India started building embankment on Nepali land, demand to stop immediately

Kathmandu: The Greater Nepal Nationalist Front (GNF) has handed over a memorandum to the Foreign Ministers of Nepal and India saying that India has started constructing unilateral embankment on Nepali land in the western part of the Kali River. In the memorandum, it has been demanded to stop the embankment being constructed on the bank of Kali river saying that the land belongs to Nepal.

Here is the memorandum:

Hon'ble Minister for Foreign Affairs Shri Pradip Gyawali
Government of Nepal
Kathmandu, Nepal.
Hon'ble Minister of External Affairs Shri S. Jayashankar
Government of India
New Delhi, India.

1. The Greater Nepal Nationalist Front (GNF) has drawn serious attention to the embankment that India has started building on the western bank of the Kali River, which flows between the Darchula district of Nepal and the Darchula district of India. The Front would like to address the Foreign Ministers of Nepal and India on this issue. It is worth mentioning that the Kali River is the western border of Nepal only until the Government of Nepal formally claims Greater Nepal. According to Article 5 of the Sugauli Treaty, the western bank of the Kali River is the border of Nepal.

2. The embankment that India is about to build recently falls on the western bank of the Kali River just west of Khalanga, the district headquarters of Darchula district of Nepal, but the area under construction is entirely Nepal's land. In fact, due to the great flood in the Kali River in 2070 BS, when the river changed its course to the east, the Nepali territory fell to the west of the Kali River. This land of Bhorabgad was called Birendra Forest as it was planted by the then King Birendra. There were a forest office, sports office, covered hall, and open stage. Half of the covered hall and one-third of the open stage land have been cut off by the Kali River, while the rest has been in Indian hands ever since. If India builds an embankment, that Nepali land will belong to independent India.

3. Due to the negligence of the Government of Nepal, India has been using Nepali land for military training for a long time. As the Indian Army has made the area a training ground, Nepalis are living in great panic after being shot at in a Nepali settlement east of the Kali River. The area is becoming completely turbulent and toxic due to the sound of gunfire. Therefore, the area should be made a civilian area immediately.

4. Since the recent problems are linked to Nepal's geographical integrity and sovereignty, the Government of Nepal and the Government of India must first clarify where the mainstream was during the Sugauli Treaty. It is an Indian attack on Nepal's sovereignty to narrow the river and embank it without determining the extent of the Kali River in the then political map. Therefore, embankment construction work should be stopped immediately.

Phanindra Nepal
President
Greater Nepal National Front
Kathmandu, Nepal
January 14, 2021