Nepal-China border free from disputes, says Chinese envoy

NL Today

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Kathmandu: Amid the reports that the Home Ministry has written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to raise the border issue with the northern neighbor, the Chinese ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi on Tuesday refuted that any such disputes exist between the two countries.

Posting the historic photo of BP Koirala, Nepal’s first democratically elected Prime Minister with his Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai on her Twitter wall, the Chinese ambassador said that the ‘Boundary Treaty’ stands as a testimony of bond of friendship between Nepal and China. “60 years ago today, China and Nepal signed the Boundary Treaty through friendly negotiation,” she wrote. “Our border is free from any disputes since then and has become a bond of friendship and a bridge of mutually benefitial [sic] cooperation.”

Early last month, the government had formed a High-Level Task Force, comprising Under-Secretary of Home Ministry, members of Nepal Police, Armed Police, Department of Survey and border expert, to carry out a field study in Namkha area of Humla district to determine whether China has actually encroached on Nepali territories there.

A week ago, the task force had submitted the report to the government recommending the formation of a joint boundary inspection team to address the boundary issues between Nepal and China.

China’s Foreign Ministry has denied the encroachment claim as a “completely unfounded rumor.”