If Pakistan and China weren't enough, India is now managing a border dispute with Nepal. Kathmandu recently unveiled new Rs 100 currency notes, featuring a revised national map. It showed three Indian territories, Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura, as part of Nepal.
This dispute dates back to the British Colonial times. In the early 19th century, British India was locked in a war with Nepal’s Gorkha empire.
Anglo-Gorkha war
But mighty Gorkhas lost, and signed the Sugauli Treaty with British India. The Nepali Kingdom had to cede some territories, and a new boundary was drawn on the Kali River.
But the treaty doesn't specify where the Kali River begins. The river is formed by the confluence of many streams and rivulets in the high Himalayas. Hence, it was not easy to accurately pinpoint a single, universally accepted origin, which has been the source of today's dispute.
India argues that the Kali river originates in the Kalapani valley, that the tributaries from Kalapani are the main headwaters. That makes Kalapani valley the western border of Nepal.
On the other hand, Nepal claims the Kali originates in Limpiyadhura -- further northwest of Kalapani. So, it stakes claim to Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura, which are administered by the Indian state of Uttarakhand.
Making matters worse, the Kali River is what experts call a meandering river. Meaning, it constantly shifts course. Over time, parts of the river have shifted towards India, and others towards Nepal. And all this ambiguity has strategic implications.
Ill-defined border
Notably, the Kalapani Valley is a tri-junction where the borders of India, Nepal and China meet. For decades after the British left India, Nepal did not stake a claim to the region.
Until 1992, when India and China reopened the Lipulekh Pass. For the first time since the 1962 war, there was some cross-border trade. More importantly, pilgrims could visit Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar.
That's when Nepal registered a protest. Kathmandu claimed that the pass located in Kalapani, was part of its territory.
In 1998, India and Nepal formed a panel to address the dispute -- the Joint Technical Level Boundary Committee. But years of meetings later, the border is still not settled. India continues to build infrastructure around Kalapani, and Nepal routinely claims the region.
