Kathmandu, Nepal, December 6, 2022: Responding to the situation at Khalanga in Darchula district turned tense since Sunday evening, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) has on Monday written letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) requesting a long-term solution to the recurring disputes in the border.
Indian police had used force to disperse Nepali demonstrators who had closed the Jhulaghat Bridge across the Mahakali River to protest India’s unilateral construction of embankment on its side on Sunday evening. Dozens of people had got injured after people on either side of the border pelted stones at one another.
Though the root of the dispute of now is about the ongoing construction of the embankment from the Indian side, border related disputes are common in the district. The government has already sent two diplomatic notes to India related to the border disputes in Darchula district. However, India has not responded yet to the concerns raised from Nepal.
Meanwhile, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has drawn the attention of the government towards the Mahakali incident. Issuing a press statement, RSP General Secretary Dr Mukul Dhakal, who is also the spokesperson of the party, drew the attention of the government and all stakeholders concerned regarding unauthorized structures made by India on the Mahakali River.
India has been building an unauthorized concrete structure by pushing the natural course of Mahakali River towards the Nepali side, Dhakal states in the statement adding as “the acts such as changing the natural flow of the Mahakali river, building unauthorized structures on the river bank and blasting stones by the Indian side has posed risk to the people across the river.
The party has also urged India to immediately halt all the unilateral construction activities and demolish all unauthorized structures built recently. The RSP has also urged the Government to take diplomatic initiatives to protect the country’s international border and the life of Nepali nationals guaranteed by both bilateral and international treaties.
