Nepal’s grandstanding over a constitutional amendment that would ‘incorporate’ Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura has impressed no one in Delhi. The view is Nepal can go ahead with its amendment but the territories will continue to remain in India. Lipulekh/Kalapani is important because these provide entry into Tibet (apart from facilitating pilgrims heading to Mount Kailash). But there is a sense that India should not have hyped the fact that the road had been laid. It played into the hands of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who used it as leverage to secure himself against the challenge posed by his party rival Prachanda. It’s well known that Oli is backed by the Chinese while the Americans are backing Prachanda.
