Raising objection to the construction of the link road, Nepal's Foreign Ministry said, "This unilateral act runs against the understanding reached between the two countries including at the level of the Prime Ministers that a solution to boundary issues would be sought through negotiation."
Lipulekh pass is a far western point near Kalapani, a disputed border area between Nepal and India. Both India and Nepal claim Kalapani as an integral part of their territory - India as part of Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district and Nepal as part of Darchula district.
"The Government of Nepal has consistently maintained that as per the Sugauli Treaty (1816), all the territories east of Kali (Mahakali) River, including Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh, belong to Nepal," the ministry said.
"This was reiterated by the Government of Nepal several times in the past and most recently through a diplomatic note addressed to the Government of India on November 20, 2019 in response to the new political map issued by the latter," it said.
It said that Nepal had expressed its disagreement in 2015 also through separate diplomatic notes addressed to the governments of both India and China when the two sides agreed to include Lipulekh pass as a bilateral trade route without Nepal’s consent in the Joint Statement issued on May 5, 2015 during the official visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to China.
"With this in mind, the Government of Nepal has proposed twice the dates for holding a meeting of the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries, as mandated by their leaders, for which the response from the Indian side is still awaited," it said.
"The Government of Nepal remains committed to seeking diplomatic solutions to boundary issues on the basis of the historical treaty, documents, facts and maps in keeping with the spirit of close and friendly ties between the two countries," the ministry said.
The ministry has also noted that the reports prepared by Nepal - India Eminent Persons Group (EPG) formed with a mandate to recommend measures and institutional framework with a view to elevating the existing relations, if implemented, will pave way to address outstanding issues left by the history.