NEW DELHI: Nepal has categorically ruled out any third-party mediation in the ongoing border dispute with India, emphasizing that the matter will be resolved through existing bilateral diplomatic mechanisms. This clarification comes after recent remarks by Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah, who had urged the United Kingdom to take an interest in the dispute. India had promptly responded that there is no scope for mediation by any third country on the issue.
Nepal's Clarification on UK Remarks
Visiting Nepalese Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal, during his visit to India on Sunday, clarified that Prime Minister Shah was seeking historical records from the UK, not mediation. 'The PM would want to solve our disputes through diplomatic processes. Clearly, it would require historical evidence. We just wanted to see that we could get access to some of the documents that might be in libraries or museums in the UK. But it was not our position that we were asking for remediation,' said Khanal. He is the first Nepalese minister to visit India under the new government led by Shah.
Commitment to Bilateral Resolution
Khanal further stated that no problem is too large and no boundary too complex for India and Nepal to sit down together and resolve with an open heart, a rational mind, and mutual respect. He emphasized that Kathmandu refuses to look at India through the 'distorted, hypersensitive lens of 20th-century geopolitics.'
'We look at India with an open heart, clear eyes, and a single transparent agenda: the economic transformation of Nepal. When we look across the border, we see a rising India that has fundamentally and beautifully redefined itself on the global stage as a dynamic, fast-growing, tech, and economic powerhouse,' he added.
The remarks underscore the commitment of both nations to resolve their differences through dialogue and mutual respect, without external interference.
