Chief District Officer (CDO) of Humla Chiranjivi Giri, who led the team that located the pillar no 11 at the Nepal-China border which was missing for years, has said that the area in Lapcha where the Chinese government has constructed buildings seems to fall in China.
"We observed the structures they have created," Giri told Setopati over the phone on Friday after returning to Humla headquarters Simikot. "It seems to fall in China on the basis of panidhalo."
Panidhalo (literally falling water) is the traditional method of demarcating borders in hilly areas wherein disputed territory is said to belong to the side toward which water poured there will fall down to.
He added that the team, that found the missing border pillar number 11 Wednesday evening, also monitored the pillar numbers 8, 9, 10 and 12, and collected their exact location including latitude and longitude.
The team is preparing the report of their field visit. "I am preparing to send the report to the Home Ministry today itself," he revealed.
Home Ministry Spokesperson Chakra Bahaudr Buda told Setopati that the ministry will study the report and forward it to the Foreign Ministry as it is related to international borders.
The government has already stated that there is no border dispute with China and CDO Giri's assertions support that. Government Spokesperson and Foreign Minister on Wednesday claimed that the place where China has built the buildings is one kilometer into the Chinese side even as locals insist that the territory belongs to Nepal and Nepal had even constructed a road through that area to the Tibetan town of Taklakot where the Chinese government allows Nepalis of the region once in a year for trade.
"Such news reports were published even four years back. The government had investigated forming a inter-ministries committee then. Investigation by the team showed that the place where China constructed the building is a kilometer inside China," Gyawali had said during the press conference to make Cabinet decisions public on Wednesday. "A team including CDO has gone even now. We will brief you if they uncover any fact."
Gyawali had insisted that there is no border dispute with China, and assured there is cordial environment for dialogue to resolve any problem if it arises.
The CDO-led team had reached Lapcha on Sunday where the Chinese side claimed that the building is on Chinese territory, and asked the Nepali team to return to the Nepali side and sit on a hill on the Nepali side if it wants dialogue. The team refused to sit for dialogue and returned back as agreeing to the Chinese terms would have meant conceding that the place is in China.
There are 100 markers, including 79 main and 21 subsidiary ones, with the northern neighbor from Taplejung in the east to Darchula in the west. The markers include pillars, rocks, hills and other natural objects, according to the Survey Department.
