China Map Controversy. Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah cancels China trip over map dispute

Kathmandu. Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra Shah has canceled his scheduled visit to Nepal over China’s failure to accept the new political map. Shah was there to attend the closing ceremony of a cultural festival organized in China. In his post on social media, Mayor Shah said that he has canceled his visit in the backdrop of China releasing a new map on Monday. China’s new map shows Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh regions as part of India, while Nepal considers them as its part.

The Mayor of Kathmandu said, without asking Nepal, we consider it a wrong step against our sensibility to tell Nepalese territory to India. “Therefore, on grounds of morality, I have decided not to go on the five-day visit at the invitation of China,” he said. According to Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) spokesperson Naveen Manandhar, the yatra was canceled due to personal reasons. Deputy Mayor Sunita Dangol has already returned from China after attending the opening ceremony of the event.

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— Balen Shah (@ShahBalen) August 31, 2023

Relations between India and Nepal were strained in 2020 after Kathmandu published a new political map that showed three Indian territories – Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh – as part of Nepal. In the same year, Nepal’s then President Bidya Devi Bhandari signed a constitution amendment bill to update the new political map of the country to include three strategically important Indian territories. India reacted sharply, calling it a unilateral act and cautioned Kathmandu that such artificial expansion of territorial claims would not be acceptable to it.

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