Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli found himself in a new controversy on Sunday when a greeting card for Vijaya Dashami with an old map of the country was published. It had also the national emblem and his portrait printed on it.
It needs to be mentioned that Nepal had, following a border dispute with India earlier this year, published a new map which had encroached upon the Indian state of Uttarakhand. This had resulted in a furore in India over the infringement of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country.
Back to Nepal. The Opposition, following the publishing of the greeting card, took a dig at the Prime Minister for using the old map and said that the latter was trying to “backtrack on the issue, undermining the spirit behind the national consensus on the territorial issue”.
Defending the Prime Minister, Surya Thapa, his press adviser, asserted that the map was indeed a new one but the new areas were not visible on account of its small size.
However, the two south Asian countries are trying to mend ties which were strained after Nepal published the new map. Prime Minister Oli had a long meeting with the chief of the Research and Analysis Wing, Samant Kumar Goel earlier this week. Army chief General M M Naravane is also scheduled to visit Nepal next month.
