The Constitution of Nepal (Second Amendment 2077) Act provided the legal status to a new map of Nepal to be used in the country's national emblem by amending Schedule 3 (Coat of Arms) in the Constitution of Nepal. The Council of Ministers of Nepal had announced the new map on 20 May 2020 and two days later it was placed in the Parliament.[1][2] On 13 June 2020, the motion was put forth for voting in the lower house of Nepal's Parliament by the government of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. Voting was unanimous with ayes being 258 with no nays.[1][2] On 18 June 2020, the Upper House unanimously passed the Bill after which the President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari signed the Bill.[3]
The new map places Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani as territory under Nepal.[4][5] Nepal claims the area as per the Treaty of Sugauli and claims that India was granted permission for troop movement in the area in the 1950s, but since then India has refused to move them back.[6][4] The move also comes ahead of the Prime Minister of Nepal facing calls to step down, and days after India opened a road through Lipulekh to Lake Mansarovar in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.[1] In November 2019 India had issued a new map in which Kalapani, a disputed territory according to Nepal, was shown as Indian territory.[6][7] The map showed the regions as part of Uttarakhand.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b c Ghimire, Binod (13 June 2020). "Constitution amendment bill to update Nepal map endorsed unanimously at the Lower House". Kathmandu Post. Archived from the original on 2020-06-14. Retrieved 2020-06-14.
- ^ a b "Nepal parliament unanimously endorses second amendment, map updated". The Himalayan Times. 13 June 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-06-14. Retrieved 2020-06-14.
- ^ Bhattacherjee, Kallol (2020-06-18). "Nepal's new map now part of Constitution". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
- ^ a b c Bhattacharjee, Kallol (2020-06-13). "Nepal passes amendment on new map". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-06-14.
- ^ "Nepal seeks talks with India as its lower House approves amendment proposal on controversial new map". ANI News. 13 June 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-06-14. Retrieved 2020-06-14.
- ^ a b Giri, Anil (4 November 2019). "India's new political map places disputed territory of Kalapani inside its own borders". Kathmandu Post. Archived from the original on 2019-11-05. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
- ^ Tandan, Promod (25 June 2020). "Nepal is caught in the middle of India-China border tensions". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2020-06-27.