Nepal’s 100 rupees currency move draws sharp response from Jaishankar: ‘Our position is very clear’

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said Nepal’s move to include Indian territories in its currency note will not change the situation or the reality on the ground.

On Friday, Kathmandu announced the printing of a new 100 rupees currency note with a map that depicts Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani as part of Nepalese territory. The announcement was made after a decision by the council of ministers chaired by Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’.

“The cabinet approved to re-design the banknote of 100 rupees and replace the old map printed in the background of the bank note during the cabinet meetings held on April 25 and May 2,” government spokesperson Rekha Sharma told media persons while briefing about the cabinet decision.

Speaking to media persons in Bhubaneswar, Jaishankar said, “Our position is very clear. With Nepal, we are having discussions about our boundary matters through an established platform. In the middle of that, they unilaterally took some measures on their side,” as reported by The Indian Express.

On June 18, 2020, Nepal updated the country’s political map by incorporating three strategically important areas Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura areas by amending its Constitution. India termed the “unilateral act” as “artificial enlargement” and “untenable” by India.

The move came little more than six months after India published new maps of the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh that showed Kalapani as part of Uttarakhand state.

India maintains Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura belong to it.

The border between Nepal and India spans over 1,850 km, connecting five Indian states: Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

Nepal claims all territories east of the Kali river, including Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh, under the Treaty of Sugauli that it signed with the erstwhile British administration in 1816.