… Lek conflict between India and Nepal
"At a time when Indian and Chinese soldiers have been squabbling at various border points, a sliver of mountain terrain thus far familiar only to Kailash-Manasarovar pilgrims has suddenly come into focus for the media and public in India – the area around a place called Lipu Lek.
Most national security experts around the Subcontinent are hearing about Lipu Lek for the first time too, even though this has been a long-standing issue between Kathmandu and New Delhi, suddenly given a higher profile by the Narendra Modi administration. Nepal has wanted to work out the matter quietly. But three recent actions by New Delhi have complicated the prospect of talks – firstly, in early November 2019, a newly issued official map by India's Home Ministry included the Kalapani area that Nepal regards as its own, which created a ruckus in Kathmandu.
Fast on the heels of this cartographic adventure, fully alert to Kathmandu's view on the matter and amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on May 8 "inaugurated" a jeep track towards the high pass called Lipu Lek at 17,000 feet height, above the place called Kalapani. Then, on May 15, Indian Army chief Manoj Mukund Navarane imputed a China angle to protests made by Nepal…"
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