Overview
- The remark, which Prime Minister Balendra (Balen) Shah made on May 31 in Parliament, said Nepal had also encroached on Indian territory and proposed historian and surveyor teams to resolve outstanding boundary questions.
- Hours after the remark, Nepal’s Foreign Ministry clarified Shah was referring to Dasgaja no-man’s-land and local cross-border occupation rather than a new formal territorial claim.
- Opposition lawmakers and former diplomats in Kathmandu immediately demanded evidence or removal of the statement from the parliamentary record, turning the comment into a domestic political controversy.
- India’s Ministry of External Affairs reiterated on June 2 that border issues must be settled bilaterally and rejected any role for third parties, while New Delhi said technical mapping work is underway in remaining disputed sections.
- Technicians and joint expert teams are repairing missing boundary pillars and collecting survey data, a process tied to long-running disputes rooted in the 1816 Sugauli Treaty and recent map changes that could affect pilgrimage routes and planned high-level visits.