Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said  that India and Nepal have agreed to address the boundary issue in a responsible manner through dialogue.

He made the comments at a press conference after a wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his visiting Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba.

The Foreign Secretary said that the two sides stressed that politicisation of such issues needs to be avoided.

In his statement to the media, Deuba said the boundary issue was discussed and he urged PM Modi to resolve it through the establishment of a bilateral mechanism.

Shringla said the border issue was briefly discussed at the meeting. “The issue was briefly discussed. There was a general understanding that both sides needed to address this in a responsible manner through discussion and dialogue in the spirit of our close and friendly relations and politicisation of such issues needs to be avoided,” he said.

“I think there was a sense that we should address it through discussion and dialogue,” he added.

Ties between India and Nepal nosedived after Nepal published a new political map in 2020 depicting the three Indian territories – Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh – as part of Nepal

The move drew sharp rebuttal from India that called it a “unilateral act” and cautioned Kathmandu that such “artificial enlargement” of territorial claims will not be acceptable to it.

The controversy erupted after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated an 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand in May 2020.

Nepal objected to the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through its territory and issued the new map weeks later.

in November 2020, Shringla visited Nepal to defuse the tension between the two countries. Later, Nepalese foreign minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali visited India.