Nepal's President Bidhya Devi Bhandari ratifies new map bill showing Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura as its own

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on Thursday ratified the Constitution Amendment Bill shortly after it was unanimously endorsed by the National Assembly for changing the political map of Nepal to include Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura.

The Upper House of Nepal's Parliament had earlier passed the new Map Amendment Bill (Coat of Arms) proposal with all the 57 members present voting in its favour.

On Sunday, Nepal’s Parliament had endorsed the proposal to update the country’s political map that includes three strategically key areas of India.

On June 13, India had reacted strongly after the Lower House of Nepal's Parliament had passed the bill to redraw the political map of the country showing Indian territories as its own. 

Responding to the development, India had said that “this artificial enlargement of claims is not tenable.”

"We have noted that the House of Representatives of Nepal has passed a constitution amendment bill for changing the map of Nepal to include parts of Indian territory. We have already made our position clear on this matter," Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had said.

The MEA spokesperson said that the artificial enlargement of claims is ''not tenable since it is not based on historical facts or evidence.''

The strong reactions from New Delhi came shortly after the Lower House of Nepal's Parliament unanimously voted to amend the Constitution to redraw the country's new political map, laying claim over the strategically key areas of Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura along the border with India.

On Thursday, the bill was submitted to Nepal's President for authentication after it was passed by the National Assembly. After her approval, the bill will now be incorporated in the Constitution. The Nepal government had on Wednesday formed a nine-member team of experts to collect historical facts and evidence related to the area.

India has repeatedly maintained that the three areas mentioned in the new map do not belong to Nepal. "We have already made our position clear on these issues. India deeply values its civilisation, cultural and friendly relations with Nepal," MEA had said on June 11.