India and China had agreed to develop Lipulekh as trade link between the two nations 66 years ago, reports Annapurna Post daily.
According to a report on border dispute, which the government has kept secret, it is stated that in 1954, both the countries, India and China, had endorsed an agreement.
The government has not made public the report on border dispute by the team of border experts led by Suryanath Upadhaya.
According to Punyaprasad Oli, border expert and member of the team, earlier to Nepal-China bilateral border agreement, India and China had agreed to develop Lipulekh as trade point.
In 1999, Indian external affairs minister Jaswant Singh’s visit to China, India and China had signed an agreement to develop Lipulekh as trade point. On 11 April, 2005, India and China had agreed to develop Lipulekh Valley as “meeting point” between the two nations. Accordingly, on 15 May, 2015, during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s China visit, the two countries had agreed to start trade between the two countries via Chyangla—Lipulekh route.
According to Ratan Bhandari, an international border scholar, Lipulekh, as per the Sugauli Treaty, is Nepali territory, however, India and China without permission of Nepal, are endorsing agreement on their own.
According to the former director general of the Survey Department, Punyaprasad Oli, on 5 October, 1961 Nepal and China had inked a border agreement. As per the agreement, the Nepal-China western border point was demarked Panidhol, in between Mahakali and Tinkar.
Oli said that China had time and again asked about Lipulekh to the Nepal government, however, as Nepal didn’t respond China, another agreement was endorsed between India and China.
People’s News Monitoring Service
