K P Sharma Oli Says Nepal Has Not Encroached ‘Even an Inch’ of Indian Territory

Former Nepal prime minister K P Sharma Oli has strongly criticised Prime Minister Balendra Shah for claiming that Nepal has encroached on Indian territory, insisting that the Himalayan nation has not occupied “even an inch” of India's land and warning that border disputes should be resolved without foreign involvement.

Speaking at the opening of a two-day national workshop of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) in Kathmandu on Wednesday, Oli described Shah's remarks as “traitorous” and accused him of making false and anti-national statements from the floor of Parliament.

The controversy erupted after Shah told Parliament on Sunday that Nepal and India had encroached on each other's territory in several places. He also suggested that historians, surveyors and experts could help resolve the dispute and indicated that Kathmandu had discussed the matter not only with India but also with the United Kingdom and China .

Shah's comments sparked a political backlash across Nepal, with opposition lawmakers, border experts and former officials accusing him of undermining Nepal's longstanding position on disputed territories. Parliamentary protests were reported, and some lawmakers demanded that the prime minister clarify or withdraw his remarks.

Amid the growing controversy, Nepal's Foreign Ministry sought to clarify that Shah's comments referred to instances of cross-border occupation and land use along the open frontier rather than an admission that Nepal officially occupies Indian territory.

The dispute is rooted in differing interpretations of the 1816 Sugauli Treaty , signed between Nepal and British India following the Anglo-Nepalese War. The treaty designated the Kali River as Nepal's western boundary, but disagreements over the river's source later led to competing claims over Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura , strategically important areas near the India-Nepal-China tri-junction.

Oli, whose government in 2020 issued a revised political map incorporating those territories into Nepal, rejected any form of third-party involvement in the dispute. “We will resolve any discussions and disputes with our neighbours ourselves. We will not involve a third party,” he said.