KATHMANDU, Jun 2 : Both Houses of Nepal’s Parliament were adjourned on Tuesday after lawmakers continued to obstruct proceedings over Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s remarks about his country’s border issues with India.
While the Lower House — House of Representatives (HoR) — was adjourned until June 8, the National Assembly was adjourned until Wednesday. Earlier, the Parliament sessions were adjourned on Monday too.
The opposition lawmakers were protesting against PM Balen’s Sunday remarks at the Parliament when he said that “Not only India, but Nepal has also encroached territories of India at many places”, sparking controversy.
Balen, in his remarks, suggested without elaborating that India and Nepal have agreed to take the help of historians, surveyors and experts to seek a resolution, adding that Kathmandu has also taken up the matter with China and the United Kingdom. India on Tuesday categorically rejected any role for “third parties” to resolve its boundary row with the Himalayan nation.
In the HoR on Tuesday, opposition lawmakers expressed their dissent against PM Shah’s remarks as soon as the meeting started, with some even surrounding the bell to show their protest.
Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal urged the members to maintain calm and cooperate with the House proceedings, which went unheeded. The opposition lawmakers were demanding withdrawal of PM Balen’s statement and its deletion from the Parliament records.
The House was then adjourned with the next meeting announced for 11 am on June 8, according to sources at the Parliament secretariat.
Similarly, opposition lawmakers also protested in the National Assembly, following which National Assembly Chairperson Narayan Prasad Dahal adjourned the meeting and called the next meeting for 12:15 pm on June 3.
Nepal and India have had an old boundary dispute over Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani, with both countries claiming the areas. India maintains that the territories are part of Uttarakhand and has said the issue should be addressed through bilateral dialogue.
On Tuesday, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that while “close to 98 per cent of the India-Nepal boundary has been demarcated, there are some unresolved segments. The shifting of the course of the Gandak river has resulted in this situation.”
“In addition, there are cases of cross-border occupation and encroachment of No-Man’s land in demarcated segments of the boundary which are currently being mapped jointly,” he said. (PTI )
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