Nepal and India border dispute: Important lessons from Bangladesh before considering land swapping

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s four-day official visit to India from May 31 to June 3 has been touted as a successful trip by the state media in terms of the goodwill shown by India’s PM Narendra Modi towards the resolution of outstanding border disputes between Nepal and India through bilateral diplomatic mechanisms.

The Limpiyadhura-Lipulekh-Kalapani sector dispute, which is a major territorial dispute that encompasses an area of around 400 square kilometres, can be viewed as a ‘frozen’ dispute that has been an irritant in the relations between India and Nepal, especially since the Indian occupation of Kalapani after the 1962 Sino-Indian War . This is a very strategic area for India from a military point of view, but for Nepal, this is a loss of territory that defines its sovereignty and independence.