Joint working group to sort crossborder occupation issue between India, Nepal: Khanal

Kathmandu, June 10: A joint working group will deal with the issue of cross-border occupation between Nepal and India, Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal told Parliament on Wednesday as he sought to clarify Prime Minister Balendra Shah Balen’s comments on the topic.
The next meeting of the Nepal-India Joint Working Group (JWG) on Border Management will be held in India in August, Khanal said as the opposition lawmakers obstructed the meetings of the House of Representatives several times demanding clarification from PM Shah regarding the matter.
Khanal further clarified that technical teams have shown that there are places where land being occupied and used by the Nepalese side may actually lie in the Indian territory whereas land being occupied and used by the Indian side may actually lie in the Nepalese territory.
“The prime minister’s statement was related to these technical facts. He was mentioning about cross-border occupation when he spoke about border related issues,” he added.
Speedy works are underway regarding re-installation of missing border pillars, as well as their maintenance and reconstruction, in the Nepal-India border areas, the Foreign Minister said while speaking on behalf of the prime minister.
Both Nepal and India are sensitively working towards resolving the issue, he added. (PTI)