Overview
- Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal told the National Assembly on Wednesday that Nepal is ready to settle the border issue with India through diplomatic talks using historical agreements and maps.
- Khanal said institutional channels are already handling local incidents and that officials coordinated before moving forward with a 132‑metre embankment project in Susta.
- Kathmandu’s foreign ministry clarified that Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s May 31 comments were referring to cross‑border occupation by local residents on both sides, not to formal third‑party mediation.
- New Delhi has repeatedly rejected any third‑party role in the dispute and both governments plan to address operational and management issues through the Nepal‑India Joint Working Group, which will meet in India in August.
- The row centers on long‑standing competing claims to Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani, and Nepal’s statement signals it will press those claims through bilateral, map‑based legal and diplomatic channels rather than external mediation.