Balen Shah's Parliamentary Statements Spark Controversy

Kathmandu. Balen Shah's statements during his first question-and-answer session with members of parliament as Prime Minister after the general elections held in February have become controversial. The Prime Minister's statements regarding the Nepal-India border and the development status of China during the House of Representatives meeting on Sunday have drawn controversy.

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

As soon as the Prime Minister's statement became 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 upon 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 is a serious error for the Prime Minister to say that Nepal has also encroached upon land without facts on sensitive issues like national integrity and sovereignty. Similarly, UML's Bhumika Limbu and CPN's Yuvraj Dulal also questioned Balen's statement.

Similarly, while clarifying the MPs' queries regarding the postponement of Nepal's graduation from a least developed country to developing country status by two years, the Prime Minister presented China as an example. He said, 'Neighboring country China recently graduated from developing to developed.'

MPs also criticized this claim by the Prime Minister, calling it 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 it is still calling itself developing, stating that this could lead to diplomatic rebuttals in the future. 'When China still calls itself developing, on what basis did our Prime Minister declare it developed? This could lead to a diplomatic rebuttal tomorrow,' she said.