Bilateral Relations/GSII
India -Nepal Relations

What's the NEWS

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba met in New Delhi with the two countries launching multiple initiatives as well as signing four crucial agreements in multiple domains.

Jaynagar-Kurtha railway section

• The inaugurated Jaynagar-Kurtha railway section is part of the Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas rail link being constructed with grant assistance of INR 548 crore from the Government of India.
• It is a 35 km rail section, 3 km of which lies in the Indian state of Bihar and the rest in Nepal.
• The 35-km (22-mile) railway was reconstructed by India as a grant.
• It was built by the colonial British Indian government as a narrow-gauge line to transport logs from Nepal.
• The project is the first broad-gauge passenger rail link between the two countries, opening an entirely new dimension for cross-border connectivity.
• Till 2014, this was an existing rail service on a metre-gauge rail link between Jaynagar and Janakpur.
• With this, India and Nepal now have road, air and rail connectivity.

Solukhumbu area

• The two prime ministers also remotely inaugurated an electricity transmission line that will supply hydroelectric power generated in the Solukhumbu area, where Mount Everest is located, to Nepal's national power grid.

Pancheswar hydroelectric project

• Both countries agreed to speed up the Pancheswar hydroelectric project on their border in west Nepal

• India is also involved in various developmental projects in Nepal, including National Police Academy at Kavrepalanchowk, the Integrated Check Posts at Nepalgunj and Bhairahawa and the projects under the ‘Ramayana Circuit'.

Border dispute:

• India did not delve deeply on the border dispute even as Nepal PM called to resolve the dispute through established bilateral mechanisms.
• India had earlier rejected Nepal's unilateral move in 2020 to amend its constitution to show the Kalapani region as part of Nepal for the first time.
• India said that there should be no effort to politicize the border issue, and the Nepal PM agreed to it.

India - Nepal Relations

• Nepal is important for India in the context of its overall strategic interests in the region, and the leaders of the two countries have often noted the age-old "Roti Beti" relationship.
• Nepal shares a border of over 1,850 km with five Indian states - Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
• Land-locked Nepal relies heavily on India for the transportation of goods and services.

• Nepal had in the last 2-3 years highly politicized the dispute over the Kalapani area, including passing a new Constitutional Amendment showing this region in Nepal for the first time.

India-Nepal border dispute over the Kalapani region

• The border dispute between India and Nepal at Uttarakhand border is over a small triangular shaped region.
• The 3 key areas in this region are Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani that have been with India for a long time.

Know! the genesis : The Treaty of Sugauli (1816)

• The 1816 Sugauli Treaty made Kali river as border between India and Nepal
• The Treaty was signed by Nepal with the British in March 1816, when Britain ruled over India.
• As part of the treaty, the British took back the Kumaon and Garhwal regions that were earlier annexed by the Nepali Gurkha kings.
• Under the treaty, Nepal renounced all claims to the areas lying to the west of river Kali(at the border of Uttarakhand and Nepal).
• The land east of river Kali thus remained with Nepal.
• India accepts this position, that the land east of the Kali is with Nepal, and to the west is with India.
• British handed over Kalapani to India at the time of independence.

Dispute regarding the origin of Kali river

• There is ambiguity in the Sugauli treaty on the identification of the Kali river and its origin.

• Nepal's contention is that Kali originates from Limpiyadhura and the stream originating from Lipu Lekh is called Lipu Khola.
• Thus, as per Nepal, Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani lie to the east of river Kali and thus become a part of Nepal.

Recent developments regarding the dispute

• Nepal has endorsed India's position for nearly 150 years (till 2020)
• It used Indian maps showing Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipu Lekh in India.
• China also accepted Lipu Lekh as one of the cultural and commercial transit points with India under its 1954 Peaceful Co-Existence Agreement.
• The dispute was triggered in November 2019 when India issued a new map to indicate the changed status of Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory.
• Nepal raised objections because the Kalapani area was shown as being in India.
• Indian maps have always shown it that way; therefore, there was no change in the map in this area.
  

Know! more about Lipulekh/ Kalapani

• Kalapani is the area between the two claims (area between these two streams)
• This is the basis of the dispute over the Kalapani region.
• Kalapani has historical, spiritual and cultural significance for India due to its location on the trade and pilgrim route to Tibet.
• Much before the British came, Indians were using this route (via kumaon in Uttarakhand to Lipu Lekh pass) for the pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar.
• Even Nepal acknowledged this old trade route be a major node for India-China trade (Lipulekh is at India-China-Nepal trijunction).
• The high Lipulekh mountain pass in Kalapani is currently also of strategic interest to India.
• It helps India track Chinese movements in the region.
• Since 1962, it's been manned by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.

Regional/ Global Groupings/GSII
Antarctic Bill

What's the NEWS

• Nearly 40 years after India first signed the Antarctic Treaty, the government has brought in a draft Indian Antarctic Bill-2022 to regulate and monitor activities at its research stations in the frozen continent.

What's the need for such Legislation

• The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 (India signed the treaty in 1983)
• It now has 54 signatories.
• The Antarctic Treaty is a legally binding agreement.
• The Treaty applies to the area south of 60° South Latitude, including all ice shelves and islands
• As per that treaty, it is mandatory and binding on all the member countries to have some kind of a provision to prevent or check unlawful activities at their research stations
• Once the Bill comes into force, it will apply to Indians, foreign citizens, corporations, firms and joint ventures functioning in India, and any vessel or aircraft that is either Indian or part of an Indian expedition.

• The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), are a set of arrangements made for the purpose of regulating relations among states in the Antarctic.

• Antarctic Treaty (1959)
• Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (1972)
• Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (1980)
• Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (1991) or Madrid Protocol

The Antarctic Treaty - Goals and Objectives

• Prohibits military activity, except in support of science
• Prohibits nuclear explosions and the disposal of nuclear waste;
• Promotes scientific research and the exchange of data
• Holds all territorial claims in abeyance.

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