Lipulekh Trade Dispute

Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal scheduled a direct question-and-answer session for Prime Minister Balendra Shah in the House of Representatives on August 26. Each parliamentary party will get at least one question, with additional questions allotted proportionally.

The House Speaker directed Prime Minister Balendra Shah to answer lawmakers’ questions under parliamentary rules, ending the opposition’s obstruction in the House. The ruling followed pressure over Shah’s remark that Nepal had encroached on India’s land.

Nepali Congress MP Bharat Bahadur Swar raised Lipulekh, Kalapani and Susta in the House and accused the government of staying silent on India’s encroachment. The remarks kept the border dispute in the parliamentary spotlight as part of broader criticism of the government.

Opposition lawmakers again stood up to protest at the start of the House of Representatives session over Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s India-related remarks remaining in the record. Members from the Nepali Congress, UML, Maoist Centre, Shram and Culture Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party joined the protest.

Nepali Congress and UML lawmakers again criticized Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s border-related remarks in parliament and demanded an apology or removal from the record. They also said the opposition would support the government on national interest and border defense.

MP Surendra Chaudhary criticized opposition parties for protesting the border remarks and accused them of undermining nationalism in parliament. The dispute remained active in the House after the earlier protest over Shah’s comments.

Opposition lawmakers demanded that Shah clarify his statement and remove it from the parliamentary record, calling it harmful to Nepal’s sovereignty. MPs from several parties said they would keep pressing the issue if no official correction was made.

Organisers said the Nepalese government asked them not to proceed with the IATS seminar, while the government denied issuing any official cancellation order. The dispute has raised concern among academics after participants from 40 countries had prepared to attend.

Opposition MPs stood up and protested in the House of Representatives over Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s claim that India had encroached on Nepal’s land. The session opened without clarification or removal of the disputed remark from the record.

Kathmandu University said the Tibetan studies conference had been postponed after a government request, and that it had withdrawn from the program. Organisers handed the final decision to the IATS board as academics criticized the move.

Nepal cancelled the International Association for Tibetan Studies conference scheduled for August 23 to 29 in Kathmandu, with officials saying the event would not proceed. The move followed reported Chinese pressure and broader sensitivities around Tibet-related activities in Nepal.

India and China began border trade through the disputed Lipulekh route, sending the first batch of 20 Indian traders to Tibet. The move proceeded without Nepal’s involvement and immediately triggered a new protest from Kathmandu.

Nepal objected to the trade move and said it had raised the issue with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after being left out of discussions. The dispute centers on Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura.