Nepal reignites border dispute with India; issues ₹100 bank notes with map showing Kalapani, Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura
Nepal on Thursday issued new ₹100 currency notes, featuring a new map that includes Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura territories. The territories, featured in the currency notes by the country’s central bank, belong to India, New Delhi has maintained time and again.
The move reignites a years-long border dispute, with Nepal making a similar move in May 2020 when the KP Sharma Oli-led government unveiled a new political map, showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura areas as Nepal’s territory.
India had at that time strongly rejected the move, calling it a ‘unilateral act’ lacking historical evidence.
“This unilateral act is not based on historical facts and evidence. It is contrary to the bilateral understanding to resolve the outstanding boundary issues through diplomatic dialogue. Such artificial enlargement of territorial claims will not be accepted by India,” New Delhi had said in a statement at the time.
Nepal’s new ₹100 note
The new₹100 currency note of Nepal”> ₹100 currency note of Nepal issued by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) bears the signature of previous Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari. The date of issuance of the note is 2081 BS, which denotes the previous year, 2024.
According to a PTI report quoting an NRB official on Thursday, the map was already previously there in the old ₹100 note. He said that the note had been updated in accordance with the government’s orders.
The ₹100 bank note of Nepal has an image of Mt. Everest on the left side, while a watermark of Nepal’s national flower, Rhododendron, is on the right.
A green colour faint map of Nepal features the alleged map and forms its background at the centre. The Ashoka Pillar is printed near the map with the text “Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha.”
On the back side of the currency, there is a picture of a horned rhino. The bank note also has a security thread and an embossed black dot, which helps visually impaired people to tell it apart.
India’s border controversy with Nepal
Nepal and India have been engaged in a border controversy for years, with both the countries claiming that Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura belong to them.
This unilateral act is not based on historical facts and evidence.
The Lipulekh Pass, an imporant trade route between China and India, lies in the region near Kalapani. While India has maintained that the Kalapani area lies in Uttarakhand’s Pithorgarh district, Nepal has claimed that it belongs to the Dharachula region.
Nepal shares a border of over 1,850 kilometres with five Indian states including Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
