Nepal: Rastriya Ekata Abhiyan submits memo to UN office against Chinese land grabbing in Humla

The Rastriya Ekata Abhiyan has handed over a memorandum to the United Nations saying that China has encroached on Nepal's land in Humla district and urged the international community to heed to the Chinese land grabbing of the land of the neighbouring countries and make a due intervention in the issue.

Ekta Abhiyan chairperson Binay Yadav reached the UN office in Kathmandu on Monday and handed over the memorandum to UN Resident Coordinator Richard Howard through Office Information Officer Rajendra Man Banepali, reported Khabarhub.

Recalling that the government had formed a panel to study the border dispute between Nepal and China in Humla on September 1, 2021, the Abhiyan also urged the Nepali Congress-led government to take action as suggested by the committee formed under its initiation.

The government had earlier formed a committee under the coordination of Home Ministry Joint Secretary Jaya Narayan Acharya to study the dispute over the Nepal-China border in Humla district last year.

"According to the study, the area between pillar number 5 (2) and the middle of the Kit Khola has been marked as the border between the two countries since the 1963 Boundary Protocol," the Rastriya Ekta Abhiyan's appeal said, "However, it has been discovered that the Chinese side has erected fences and wires in Nepali land," reported Khabarhub.

The report is now pending with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It was reported that the border encroachment was intensified in Humla during the then KP Oli-led government. But then-Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, referring to a study done in 2016, said the structures were built on Chinese soil.

Similarly, the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu had clarified that the structures were constructed in its own territory and there was no border dispute between Nepal and China.

However, the then main opposition party, the Nepali Congress had issued a statement accusing the government of trying to cover up the border despite evidence that it had crossed the line.

Interestingly, the NC-led government has not published the report formed under its own initiation.

The Abhiyan has been continuously conducting various campaigns against the Chinese encroachment of Nepal.

The memorandum called for China to withdraw from the encroached land, urged both Nepali and Chinese governments to jointly inspect the border under the supervision of the international community. It has also urged both governments and the international community to keep a record of all border posts with GPS.

China's expansionist designs in the Himalayan nation have led to illegal encroachments by Beijing in bordering districts including Humla, Gorkha, Darchula, Dolakha and Sindhupalchowk.

The memorandum has been sent to the US Embassy in Kathmandu, the European Union Representative in Nepal, the Russian, Chinese, and Indian embassies in Kathmandu, reported Khabarhub.

( With inputs from ANI )