Good fences, good neighbours

Nepal should immediately call for dialogue on border issues with India at the highest level.

Warm people-to-people ties are often cited to describe Nepal-India relations—and rightly so. Such close ties between two neighbouring countries are indeed rare, and that is precisely why this “special relation” should not be taken for granted. But New Delhi is doing exactly that as it continues to unilaterally push ahead with the construction of an embankment on its side of the border in Khalanga of Darchula district in far western Nepal. On February 19, tensions had risen in the region when India started dredging the Mahakali River that forms the border to build the wall. People were pelting stones across the border at each other. The District Administration Office in Darchula wrote to its counterpart in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand state in India. A year later, the Nepali side is still to get a reply. Similar stone throwing occurred on Sunday, injuring four children on the Nepali side in the process. More such flare-ups are inevitable given India’s reluctance to heed Nepal’s concerns.