Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said on Tuesday that Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh are Nepali territories.

“Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh belong to Nepal,” said Oli while addressing Tuesday’s meeting of the Parliament. “We will get them back.”

The prime minister’s statement that Nepal will reclaim those lands comes a day after his Cabinet approved a new political map including the said territories within Nepal’s borders.

Oli said that India has made it a disputed territory by keeping its army in the area. “Nepalis were blocked from going there after India stationed its army,” said Oli.

India has stationed its troops in Kalapani since the early 1960s.

The border dispute in the region, on the northwestern edge of Nepal, has been a perennial irritant in Nepal-India relations.

The recent controversy, however, erupted after India on May 8 inaugurated a road via Lipulekh to Kailash Mansarovar in the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. The move immediately sparked protests in Nepal. Six months ago also India had touched a raw nerve in Nepal after it published a new political map, placing Kalapani within its borders.

Nepal’s diplomatic efforts to hold talks with India had failed.

The government move of publishing a new political map of Nepal follows a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a counter-statement by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Nepal’s handing over a diplomatic note to Indian Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra and Indian Army chief’s statement that Nepal was objecting to India building the road via Lipulekh at “the behest of someone else”.

On Tuesday, the prime minister told the House that he would not never let the Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh issue vanish.

“The then rulers of Nepal hesitated to speak up, but as the prime minister of the present government I want to inform all that I will never let this issue disappear,” he said.

According to the prime minister, the land will be brought back via discussions through diplomatic channels.

In his address, Oli also informed the parliament about the new political map of Nepal endorsed by the parliament.

“The map will be made public by tomorrow,” he said.

“The decision to include the territories inside the map of Nepal was made after India inaugurated a road link through Nepali territory,” Oli said. “The national emblem will also be presented for amendment soon.”

During his address, the prime minister felt difficulties in his legs.

“I am feeling difficult to stand up and address,” Oli said to Speaker Agni Sapkota. “It is because of my health.”

A chair was managed for the prime minister.