2 min readNew DelhiJun 3, 2026 05:10 AM IST
TWO DAYS after Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah raised the boundary dispute with India in his speech at the country’s parliament and sought involvement of China and the UK to address the long-standing dispute, India on Tuesday categorically rejected any role for third parties to resolve the issue and underlined that there are “bilateral mechanisms” to deal with it.
Ministry of External Affairs’ official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Tuesday, “We have seen the remarks of the Prime Minister of Nepal concerning India-Nepal boundary as well as the subsequent statement issued by Nepali foreign ministry on this matter.”
“While close to 98 per cent of the India-Nepal boundary has been demarcated, there are some unresolved segments. The shifting of the course of the Gandak river has resulted in this situation,” he said.
“In addition, there are cases of cross-border occupation and encroachment of no-man’s land in demarcated segments of the boundary which are currently being mapped jointly,” he said.
“We have established bilateral mechanisms to deal with all aspects of boundary matters. It should be clear to all concerned that there is no role for any third party in a bilateral matter between India and Nepal,” Jaiswal said.
Nepal PM Shah on Sunday said he has learnt about his country “encroaching” territories in India, as he sought to answer questions in parliament on a long-running border dispute, and instead triggered a controversy. Hours later, Nepal Foreign Ministry had said Shah’s comments were related to “no-man’s land encroachments” and “cross-border occupation” between the two countries, rather than any territorial claims.
Nepal and India have had an old boundary dispute over Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani, with both countries claiming the areas. India maintains that the territories are part of Uttarakhand and has said the issue should be addressed through bilateral dialogue.
