The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday that its serious attention has been drawn to the incident of firing by Indian security forces in the Nepali territory on Wednesday morning, in which four Nepali nationals were injured.

Challenging the Embassy of India’s denial that the incident took place inside Nepal or that any Nepali citizen was injured, the MoFA said in a statement on Thursday: “Serious attention of the ministry has been drawn to the incident that occurred on Wednesday at around 6:20am 100 meters inside Nepal from India-Nepal no-man’s-land at Poorbi Tole of Hariharpur VDC Ward No 7 of Sunsari district when four locals namely Ashok Yadav, Naresh Yadav, Manoj Yadav and Saroj Yadav were injured by the bullets fired by Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel in a dispute between them and some individuals.”

The Embassy of India on Wednesday had said that reports that Nepali citizens were injured in firing by Indian SSB personnel were ‘inaccurate’.  

The MoFA in its Thursday’s statement added: “This matter has been brought to the attention of the government of India through the Embassy of India in Kathmandu yesterday, expressing grave concern over the entry of the SSB personnel into the Nepali territory and use of firearms against unarmed Nepali civilians.”

While urging the Indian authorities to check such actions in future, the MoFA has requested an early investigation into the incident and strong action against those involved. The ministry has also requested the Indian side to share the findings of the investigation.