The dispute over Lipu Lekh — a strip of land on the northwestern edge of Nepal between India and Tibet — has been prised open with defence minister Rajnath Singh inaugurating a link road from Dharchula to Lipu Lekh and identifying it as “China border”.

Singh had inaugurated the link road on Friday to provide Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims an alternative route to the “treacherous high-altitude terrain” they have been taking through Sikkim or Nepal.

The new route also cuts the duration of travel within China.

On Saturday, Nepal’s foreign ministry objected to the opening, describing India’s move as a “unilateral act” that runs against the understanding reached between the two countries, including at the level of Prime Ministers, that a solution to boundary issues would be sought through negotiations.

India contested this with the foreign ministry spokesperson saying: “The recently inaugurated road section in Pithoragarh district in the state of Uttarakhand lies completely within the territory of India. The road follows the pre-existing route used by the pilgrims of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. Under the present project, the same road has been made pliable for the ease and convenience of pilgrims, locals and traders.”

Kathmandu’s position is that according to the Sugauli Treaty (1816), all the territory east of the Mahakali river, including Lipu Lekh, Limpiyadhra and Kalapani, belong to Nepal.

This was iterated by the Government of Nepal recently through a diplomatic note to New Delhi after the new official map of India -- issued to factor in the changes in the geographical contours of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir -- showed Kalapani as part of India.

The Oli government in Nepal drew considerable flak at home over the past 24 hours for the inauguration of the Link Road with critics questioning why Kathmandu had allowed the road to be laid in the first place.

Critics in Nepal see a parallel with the 2015 India-China agreement to expand border trade at Lipu Lekh when Kathmandu was taken by surprise although New Delhi and Beijing had been in talks on this since 2013.

The Nepal foreign ministry also placed on record the fact that Kathmandu had twice proposed dates for a foreign secretaries’ meeting to address the boundary issues, but India had not responded till date.

About this, India said both sides were in the process of scheduling foreign secretary-level talks, which would be held once the dates were finalised between the two sides after the two societies and governments had successfully dealt with the challenge of the Covid-19 emergency.