India, Nepal stare at diplomatic crisis: Artificial enlargement of claims, not tenable, says Delhi
The Indian Express 14 June 2020 Written by: Shubhajit Roy New Delhi finds itself in a difficult position, as Kathmandu has etched the red lines on stone. This may force Delhi to draw its own red line and ask its counterparts in Nepal to walk back on the boundary issue and then come to the table. Hours after Nepal moved a step forward towards giving legal sanctity to the new map as it passed the Constitutional Amendment bill in the lower house of its Parliament, India and Nepal were staring at a diplomatic crisis on Saturday. Responding to Kathmandu’s decision, New Delhi made it clear that this “artificial enlargement of claims” is “not tenable”, and it “violates the bilateral understanding to hold talks on outstanding boundary issues”. Read in Malayalam The government now faces a tough choice in dealing with an increasingly assertive Nepal government, led by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli. So far, the government has not responded to Nepal’s requests for a...