Hari Bansh Jha
Republica
September 21, 2014
Boundary issues have once again become crucial in bilateral and multilateral dealings in Asia. This problem is more pronounced between China and its neighbors. Japan and Vietnam are almost at loggerheads with China over boundary disputes; while Bhutan and India show great unease in dealing with China on this same issue. Nepal is also not immune from boundary problems with its neighbors: China to the north and India to the south. Nepal’s boundary problem with its neighbors is partly bilateral (and partly trilateral), and needs to be resolved in view of growing tensions in the region.
Nepal was secured from its northern neighbor, Tibet, all through the history, until 1950s, when China made inroads there. Nepal had until that time always enjoyed supremacy over Tibet. During war with Tibet in 1854-56, Nepal even defeated Tibet and the Thapathali Treaty was signed. Consequently, the Tibetan government had to pay tribute to Nepal, an arrangement which stayed until 1953. In exchange, Nepal assured help in Tibet’s fight against foreign aggression.
Sadly, the Chinese inroads into Tibet made Nepal vulnerable and insecure on the north. This was one of the reasons why Nepal signed a security pact with India in 1950, popularly called the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, in a hurry. As per the Treaty, India was allowed to maintain military missions all along Nepal’s northern frontier with Tibet. It was only in 1969 that India withdrew its military mission from Nepal after objections were raised by Nepali Prime Minister Kirti Nidhi Bista.
It was soon after Nepal and China established diplomatic relations on August 1, 1955 that border conflicts between the two flared at 35 locations along the mountain range, including at Mt Everest. Until that time Nepal had sole claim on Everest, an arrangement which the Chinese opposed in 1960. Nepali Prime Minister Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala rejected the Chinese claim on Everest on April 4, 1960, but later he changed his stand (for unknown reasons) and signed a Border Treaty with China on October 5, 1961. He endorsed partial Chinese claim over Everest on the ground that the mountaineers who climbed Everest from the north received visa from the Chinese authorities, while the ones who went up the mountain from the south took visa from the Nepali authorities. Accordingly, all land north of the peak of Everest fell into Chinese territory; whereas the land south of the peak remained with Nepal. On the watershed principle, the peak of Everest was recognized as border between the two countries, though it was not to the satisfaction of average Nepalis.
After the Border Treaty in 1961, the two countries maintained that their border problem was solved. However, in the wake of the Olympic Games in 2008, China constructed 108 km road in Tibet, right up to the base camp of Mt Everest with a view to carrying out Olympic torch up Everest. Subsequently, in 2011, China started a new debate that the rock height (8,844.5 meter) rather than the snow height (8,848 meter) be recognized as the real height of Mt Everest. Nepal opposed this Chinese proposal, in the same way it had opposed initial Chinese claim over Everest in 1960.
In its bid to settle the debate over Everest once-and-for-all, Nepal appealed to the international community in March 2012 to help it conduct its own GPS-based survey. There has so far been no official statement on this project, which was expected to be completed in two-three years. Yet it is also believed in some quarters that Nepal has already accepted Chinese stand that the rock height of the mountain is the real height of Everest; while China acknowledged Nepali stand of the snow height as the real height of this mountain. Since the shift of tectonic plates in the region might further change the mountain, the basis of demarcation, whether rock or snow, might potentially weaken Nepal’s claim over Everest.
There are also recent reports of missing border pillars from along Nepal-China border. Nepal also has unresolved border problems with China along the tri-junction points both in Nepal’s extreme western sector of Kalapani as well as the extreme east, which borders Tibet, Nepal and India.
Coming back to India, Nepal has 1,753-km-long border with the southern neighbor and the border is open for both the nationals. People from one country do not need to carry with them passport or visa while they travel in the other country. On the other hand, Nepal has a strict visa arrangement with China and it is not easy for nationals of one country to travel to the other.
Significantly, Nepal has been able to resolve 98 percent of boundary issues with India. But it is said that India has encroached 60,000 hectares of Nepal’s territory and there are 54 disputed areas between the two countries. During the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Nepal on August 3 and 4, 2014, Nepal and India agreed to settle even the remaining 2 percent of pending boundary issues, once and for all. For this, the Boundary Working Group has been formed and it has been made responsible for the construction, restoration and repair of boundary pillars between the two countries. Also, the two countries have agreed to resolve the dispute over Kalapani and Susta, which has been a source of constant irritation between the two countries, for a long-long time.
Nepal as such has border problems with both its neighbors. So it needs to make genuine effort to sort them out, with both the countries, be it at the disputed sites or where the border pillars have been missing. It is doubtful if Nepal can ever resolve its border issues with China, particularly in its tri-junction points where the boundary of Nepal meets India and China. For this is more a trilateral than a bilateral issue.
The author is a Professor of Economics and Executive Director of the Centre for Economic and Technical Studies.
