Amid row, Nepal plans increase in border posts

Nepal plans to increase the number of its border outposts along the boundary with India by 100, from the existing 121 to 221 in the next year, in a move that, while it has been in the works for some time, comes at a time when friction between the two countries is high over a new map approved by the Himalayan country’s parliament that lays claim to territory that has always been with India. The Sashastra Seema Bal, which guards India’s borders with Nepal, and India’s central intelligence agencies have information that Nepal’s Armed Police Force, deployed at the border, has already been given approval for an additional 100 border posts by that country’s home ministry. On Saturday, Nepal’s parliament voted unanimously to amend its constitution to redraw the country’s political map laying claim over the strategically key areas of Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura.India has termed the decision “untenable” and in violation of current understanding to hold talks on outstanding border issues. A senior SSB officer, who didn’t want to be named, said: “We guarding forces have a mechanism where commanding officers interact on regular basis, information is shared on network of criminals, human traffickers, counterfeit currency and drugs smugglers and even movement of terrorists.” In a one-off incident, Nepal APF fired upon a group of Indian villagers who had entered Nepal in violation of the lockdown underway there, near Sitamarhi, killing one person and injuring two.