Study panel says 'there are issues' along Nepal-China border in Humla
Oct 23, 2021
Kathmandu [Nepal], October 23 : In an attempt to show its presence, China has put up fences and wires Nepal's territory in Humla district, according to a report by a study panel formed by the Nepalese Ministry of Home Affairs.
Citing Ministry of Home Affairs, Kathmandu Post reported that a host of issues has been identified along the Nepal-China border in Humla.
The panel led by Joint-secretary Jay Narayan Acharya submitted its report after conducting an on-field study to Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand in the last week of September. It has made a dozen recommendations, identifying the problems along the Nepal-China border in Humla, from border pillar numbers 4 to 13, the publication said.
According to the report, since the 1963 Boundary Protocol has marked the area from pillar number 5 (2) to the middle of the Kit Khola as the boundary between the two countries, the territory belongs to Nepal.
"But it has been found that the Chinese side has put up wires and fencing in the Nepali territory," stated the report cited by Kathmandu Post.
"The Chinese side was also trying to build a permanent canal 145 metres inside the Nepali territory. Accordingly, it wanted to build a road. After Nepal's Armed Police Force's objections, the structures were destroyed and the covered rubble was visible." it added.
Furthermore, the report said, the Chinese side has fenced and wired pillar 6 (1), which lies in the Nepali territory, and "attempted to" show its presence in the areas between pillar 6 (1) and pillar 5 (2).
"It was learnt that pillar 7(2), on the Chinese side, was not visible and it could not be found when local security officials from Nepal searched for it," the report stated.
It added that it was found that the 1963 Boundary Protocol has been breached as the Chinese side has erected fences towards pillar 10, which is 32 metres from Nepal-China common pillar 9(2).
The panel report also said that the Chinese side has also been obstructing Nepali citizens from grazing their cattle in the areas between pillar 5 (2) and pillar 4.
Kathmandu Post citing multiple government sources reported that the Foreign Ministry has already taken up the matter with the government of China through the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu and that some rounds of discussion were held to resolve the dispute, if any, between the two sides through the established mechanisms.
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, during a telephonic conversation, touched upon the boundary issue between the two countries, the newspaper said.
The expansionist designs of China have gone unabated with whoever whichever country it shares a boundary line with. The displacement of the border pillar in Nepal is not an isolated event.
As per a survey by Nepal's Ministry of Agriculture, China illegally encroached on several bordering districts including Gorkha, Dolakha, Humla, Darchula, Sindhupalchowk, Rasuwa and Sankhuwasabha.