Army chief MM Naravane heads to Nepal amid moves to repair ties

The choice of General Naravane for the first high-level Indian visit to Kathmandu since the boundary row gained momentum is significant since it was his comment that Nepal was acting at the “behest of someone else” — an oblique reference to China — which complicated relations amid tensions over the boundary issue.

On May 15, General Naravane suggested that Nepal might be raising the issue of Indian road construction via Lipulekh to Mansarovar at the “behest of someone else”.

Nepal reacted sharply to the Army chief’s comments. Nepal Defence Minister Ishwar Pokhrel called the statement “insulting… ignoring Nepal’s history, our social characteristics and freedom”. The inauguration of the new road from Dharchula to Lipulekh on the Mansarovar Yatra route angered the KP Sharma Oli government which came out with a new map of Nepal, adding to it an area of 370 sq km at the tri-junction of Nepal, India and China (Tibet) which India maintains is its territory.

A Constitution amendment Bill was passed by Nepal’s parliament to legitimize the alteration or addition of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura to the country’s new map. The passage of the Bill and the new map led to breakdown of communication between the two countries.

But in recent months, starting from the phone conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Oli, efforts have been made for a rapprochement between the two countries.

This was followed by a meeting between officials in Kathmandu to review projects funded by the Indian government. The August 17 meeting took place in Kathmandu where Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi led a team of officials and the Indian side was led by Indian ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra.