Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said on Friday that discussions have begun on alternatives for resolving the boundary issue with India, mainly the Kalapani dispute. After a meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Thursday, Dahal indicated that Nepal can consider swapping the Kalapani area with India in order to gain land access to Bangladesh through the Indian ‘chicken’s neck’.

The ‘chicken’s neck’ or Siliguri corridor is a strip of Indian land that borders Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and China. But India’s strategic circle views this strip as highly sensitive and important for India for geopolitical reasons, so it is not certain whether India will agree to such a land swap deal.

Talking to media persons in New Delhi on Friday morning, the prime minister revealed that he and Modi discussed ways to resolve boundary issues including the Kalapani dispute and possible land swap so that landlocked Nepal could get access to the sea.

During the joint press conference at Hyderabad House with Dahal, Modi had said, “We will keep working to take our relationship to Himalayan heights. And in this spirit, we will resolve all issues, be they boundary related or any other issues.”

Dahal, on the occasion, said, “Prime Minister Modiji and I discussed the boundary matter.”

“I urged Prime Minister Modiji to resolve the boundary matter through the established bilateral diplomatic mechanisms,” said Dahal.

This is the first time that the Indian side has expressed commitment to resolving the boundary dispute after Nepal and India entered a fresh dispute over Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura areas in 2020. After India in November 2019 unilaterally issued a new map by including the three areas claimed by Nepal within Indian borders and refused to entertain Nepali concerns, Nepal too, six months later in May 2020, issued its own map by including the three areas within its borders. The areas have been under Indian control for several decades.

The map incident took the bilateral relations to a new low.

“This time, the two countries have discussed border issues seriously. Kalapani has also been discussed in the Indian media and their general theme is that the issue should be resolved. When we sat with the Indian side, we discussed several options. One option is the India-Bangladesh model. Bangladesh and India had a problem for a long time, but they resolved it. One [solution] could be [applying] that model,” said Dahal.

India and Bangladesh had resolved their decades-old border issue through a land swap agreement in July 2015 through the exchange of enclaves, which continued in phases between the agreement date and June 2016. India amended its Constitution on May 25, 2015 to facilitate the agreement’s implementation.

After publishing the new map, the then KP Oli government had formed a nine-member panel in order to collect historical evidence including old maps and other cartographic proofs to support Nepal’s claim to Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura.

That evidence would be presented during bilateral boundary talks related to the Kalapani issue, according to officials.

CPN-UML Deputy General Secretary and former foreign minister Pradip Gyawali termed Dahal’s comments on the boundary dispute as ‘very immature.’

Gyawali helmed the foreign ministry when the boundary-related task force was formed. Gyawali said that a proposal [like land swap] is highly sensitive and needs intense discussions.

“First, there is no provision to allow land swap in our constitution. Second, land swap is the last option for us, because first we have to establish our claim over Kalapani. Third, that route [chicken’s neck] is important for India. And fourth, a person like the prime minister should not show his cards, when formal talks have not begun. The prime minister should not speak lightly on such a sensitive issue,” Gyawali said.

The task force had, besides land-swapping, suggested reclaiming the Nepali territory currently occupied by India by presenting historical evidence including maps. Another option it suggested was to lease out the Kalapani area to India for some years after India declared that Kalapani belongs to Nepal.

Also, another alternative was to build a special economic zone around Lipulekh where Nepal, India and China could undertake trilateral trade and business and Nepal would collect royalties and other fees, according to another member of the task force.

Former Director General of the Department of Survey Toya Nath Baral, who was also the member of the taskforce, said an alternative they had suggested was swapping land with India to permanently resolve the Kalapani dispute.

“But this is a very complicated issue,” said Baral, adding, “even if we get 400-500 square kilometers [from India] in western Nepal near Mahendranagar, it will not serve our interest.”

“But if we get a strip of Indian land to reach Bangladesh through our eastern border point, it will be a great achievement for Nepal. This will give us direct access to Bangladesh. And that strip should be fully barricaded for our use,” said Baral.

Former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Nepali Congress leader Sujata Koirala, and noted cartographer Buddhi Narayan Shrestha, among others, have floated this idea in the past. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, following the opening of the Kakarbhitta-Phulbari-Banglabandha transit route in 1997, Bangladesh has permitted Nepal to use its port in Mongla. Bangladesh has also provided an additional rail transit corridor to Nepal via Rohanpur (Bangladesh)-Singhabad (India). But several hassles have emerged on this route with India imposing multiple restrictions citing security reasons given its sensitive location and direct links to Bhutan and China.

“Probably the prime minister was speaking what was on his mind, but we are aware that the boundary dispute was not discussed in depth with the Indian side during the delegation-level talks,” a Nepali official who was part of the delegation level talks on Thursday at Hyderabad House told the Post over the phone from New Delhi.

“The Indian side appeared positive on the resolution of boundary disputes, but no detailed discussions or options were discussed. Probably, the issue might have been discussed in depth during the one-on-one between the prime minister and Modi, but we are not aware of it,” the official said.

Read: PM Modi has offered to settle boundary dispute through talks: PM Dahal

Some Nepali experts also suggested that Nepal should think about getting access to Bangladesh from Nepal’s eastern border if India does not want to cede Kalapani, said Dahal.

“We have been raising the issue of getting direct access to Bangladesh for a long time. This is our requirement and our desire too. If we can manage this, it could be a good solution. Some of our experts have offered suggestions along these lines, saying that if we get access [to Bangladesh] from] the eastern point, that would be beneficial to us. This could be one alternative, but there are other options too,” said Dahal.

“The good thing is, India has finally acknowledged the Kalapani dispute, which it had long been ignoring and refusing to discuss,” Dahal added.

But some Nepali experts said it is impossible to acquire the Indian ‘chicken’s neck’ for our use as it has huge strategic importance for India.

“This is an impossible proposal,” former Nepali ambassador to Denmark Vijaya Kant Karna said. “That strip is sensitive to India because it borders China, Bhutan, Myanmar and some parts of Tibet.”

“We won’t get the chicken’s neck. Maybe land swap would be possible around Susta and other places. More importantly, we have already endorsed the new map from Parliament, amended the constitution, and we haven’t started negotiations with India. The Parliament should give a mandate to the foreign secretary or some other Nepali authority to hold talks with India so that once the issue is settled, the constitution could be amended accordingly,” said Karna.

Since the map dispute of 2020, India has avoided boundary talks with Nepal despite the latter’s repeated requests.

Dahal said India agreeing to discuss the issue and options is itself a breakthrough.

“That is why Modiji spoke and made a statement that we should resolve it. Modiji thinks the dispute should be resolved. He also thinks that if the dispute continues, Nepal-India relations would not improve. Our bilateral relations will move nowhere if we remain stuck over only Kalapani and Lipu Lekh—this was the impression I got after talking to Modiji,” said Dahal.