Balen Shah's Statements Spark Controversy in Parliament

Kathmandu. Balen Shah's statements during his first question-and-answer session with lawmakers as Prime Minister have become controversial. The Prime Minister's statements regarding the Nepal-India border and the development status of China during Sunday's House of Representatives meeting have drawn controversy.

While responding to a question from CPN-UML MP Padma Aryal about the Lipulek, Limpiyadhura, and Kalapani dispute, Prime Minister Balen stated that Nepal has also encroached on India's land. He said, 'You might be surprised to know that not only has India encroached on Nepal's land, but Nepal has also encroached on India's land in many places.'

As soon as the Prime Minister's statement was made public, House of Representatives member Basana Thapa objected in the parliament itself. She argued that the Prime Minister made such a serious statement without any facts or evidence, and that this statement would harm national integrity and damage relations with neighbors.

She said, 'On what basis did the Prime Minister say that Nepal has encroached on India's land? This is highly objectionable and should be removed from the parliamentary record.' Similarly, House of Representatives member Ramesh Malla also raised questions, stating that it was a serious error for the Prime Minister to say that Nepal has also encroached on land without facts on a sensitive issue like national integrity and sovereignty. Similarly, UML's Bhumika Limbu and CPN's Yuvraj Dulal also questioned Balen's statement.

Furthermore, while addressing the MPs' queries about Nepal's process of graduating from a least developed country being postponed by two years, the Prime Minister presented China as an example. He said, 'Neighboring country China only recently moved from developing to developed.' This claim by the Prime Minister was also criticized by the MPs as a 'factual error.' MP Khushbu Oli stated that the United Nations and international bodies still categorize China as a 'developing country.'

She questioned why the Prime Minister announced China as developed when China itself still calls itself developing, stating that speaking randomly without study could tarnish Nepal's image on the international stage. 'When China still calls itself developing, on what basis did our Prime Minister declare it developed? This could lead to diplomatic rebuttals tomorrow,' she said.