Nepal’s protest against link road to Lipulekh Pass: Army Chief hints at China hand

New Delhi, May 16: Army Chief General M M Naravane hinted that China may be behind the protest by Nepal against India's new Link Road to the Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand.

He, however, said that he did not see any concerted design in the recent troop face offs with China. I do not see any contradiction at all as far as the road to the Lipulekh Pass is concerned. In fact, the Nepalese ambassador had mentioned that the east side of Kali Nadi belongs to them. There is no dispute in that, the General also said.

The road which we have constructed is on the west side of the river. So, I do not know what they are agitating about exactly. There have never been problems on this score in the past.

There is reason to believe that they might have raised the issue at the behest of someone else. That is very much a possibility, he also said.

Nepal had declared that the Link Road to Lipulekh passed through its territory. It criticised India for the unilateral act. India responded that the road lay completely within its territory.