India did not respond kindly to its proposal of talks ahead of redrawing political map: Nepal

New Delhi, July 31: Nepal Foreign Affairs Minister Pradeep Gyawali on Friday said Kathmandu had asked New Delhi several times to start diplomatic negotiations to resolve the simmering border dispute, but that India had failed to respond to it.

"We time and again asked India. We proposed possible dates as well. Our proposal was not responded to kindly," he said. "Amid the pandemic when the Indian government created the Lipulekh link road, it created serious disappointment among our people."

"When India published its eighth edition of political map back in November 2019, it comprised Nepal's territory of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura. Definitely, Nepal opposed it through political statement and diplomatic notes," added Gyawali.

India has termed as "untenable" the "artificial enlargement" of the territorial claims by Nepal after its Parliament unanimously approved the new political map of the country featuring Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura areas which India maintains belong to it.

The India-Nepal bilateral ties came under strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated an 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8.

Nepal reacted sharply to the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through Nepalese territory. India rejected the claim asserting that the road lies completely within its territory.