Koirala to take up Susta land issue with Manmohan

Kathmandu, Jan 8: Amid growing protests in Nepal over alleged encroachment of land by India in the country's Susta region, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has assured that he will take up the matter with his Indian counterpart, Dr Manmohan Singh.''The government of Nepal believes that the border issue is sensitive to all patriotic Nepali people and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is making sincere efforts to resolve the border dispute at the diplomatic and political level,'' a statement issued by Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The statement asserted that the issue would be resolved through diplomatic channels.

It added, ''Nepal-India border joint technical committee has completed 98 per cent of border demarcation and strip mapping.'' Nepal and India had agreed to maintain the 1968 status quo over Susta and Kalapani regions.

UNI