Kalapani Territory

Syllabus subtopic: India and its neighbourhood- relations.

News: Nepal government has strongly objected to the inclusion of ‘Kalapani’ under the Indian Territory as per the newly released political map of India.

Prelims focus Location of Kalapani.

Mains focus: About the dispute, India’s concerns and solutions.

Issue

In the latest map, India included Kalapani in the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand.
Nepal's government says that Kalapani is an integral part of the country and that talks are still on between New Delhi and Kathmandu over this “unresolved” area.
Foreign secretaries of both countries have been assigned the responsibility to resolve the remaining border-related issues between India and Nepal.

Where is it located?

Kalapani is located at an altitude of 3600m on the Kailash Manasarovar route.
It borders Uttarakhand in India and Sudurpashchim Pradesh in Nepal.
Since the Indo-China war of 1962, Kalapani is controlled by India’s Indo-Tibetan Border Police.

Nepal claims that the river located towards the west of the territory is the main Kali river and thus it falls in its territory, India claims a ridgeline towards the east of the Kalapani territory and hence, includes it in the Indian Union.

The genesis of the dispute:

Under the treaty of Sugauli signed between Nepal and the British East India Company in 1816, the Kali River was located as Nepal’s western boundary with India. It, however, made no mention of a ridgeline and subsequent maps of the areas drawn by British surveyors showed the source of the Kali river at different places.
This discrepancy has led to boundary disputes between India and Nepal, with each country producing maps including the territory in their own area to support their claims. The exact size of the Kalapani territory also varies in different sources.

Way ahead:

While the two countries have made a lot of headway in ties, sensitive issues such as borders need to be handled carefully and New Delhi has to be mindful of Nepal’s concerns.

Source: The Hindu

Join Our Telegram

Study calls for lowering the age of consent

Quad group

India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) UPSC GS-2 INDO PACIFIC – IR/PSIR

20 Nov, 25
SHARE

India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) UPSC GS-2 INDO PACIFIC – IR/PSIR IPOI is India’s open, voluntary and non-treaty-based maritime initiative for building a free, open, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific through practical cooperation. Why in News? India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Ini

AI Impact Summit 2026 UPSC GS-3 S&T PT-MAINS

19 May, 26
SHARE

AI Impact Summit 2026 UPSC GS-3 S&T PT-MAINS The India-AI Impact Summit 2026 positioned India as a Global South leader by shifting global AI debate from only AI safety and regulation to AI for development, inclusion and real-world impact. Why in News? India hosted the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 at B

Hong Kong Convention for Safe Ship Recycling UPSC GS-3 ENVIRONMENT PT-MAINS

27 Jun, 25
SHARE

Hong Kong Convention for Safe Ship Recycling UPSC GS-3 ENVIRONMENT PT-MAINS The Hong Kong International Convention, 2009 is an IMO treaty that ensures ships are recycled safely without unnecessary risk to human health, worker safety and the environment. Why in News? The Hong Kong Convention entered into force on 26 June 2

LeadIT 2.0: Leadership Group for Industry Transition COP28 UPSC GS-2 IR GS-3 S&T

14 Nov, 23
SHARE

LeadIT 2.0: Leadership Group for Industry Transition UPSC GS-2 IR GS-3 S&T LeadIT 2.0 is the second phase of the India-Sweden-led global initiative to support low-carbon transition in hard-to-abate industrial sectors. Why in News? The second phase of LeadIT was announced at the LeadIT Summit 2023, ho

India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement UPSC GS-2 IR/PSIR

03 Sep, 25
SHARE

India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement UPSC GS-2 IR/PSIR The India-EFTA TEPA is a comprehensive trade pact between India and four non-EU European countries — Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland — aimed at boosting trade, investment, jobs, services, technology and supply-chain resilience. Wh