Nepal seeks report from its embassy in Delhi about murals in new Parliament building

Kathmandu : The Nepal government said on Tuesday that it has sought a report from its embassy in New Delhi about the murals depicted in the new Indian Parliament building.

Nepal’s Foreign Minister N.P. Saud said that the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi has been instructed to send a report about the murals (maps) depicted in the Indian Parliament building.

In a meeting of the International Relations Committee of the Federal Parliament held on Tuesday, Saud said that the embassy has been instructed to send a report after inquiring with the Indian side about the murals.

The issue has drawn a huge uproar in Kathmandu. However, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that during his visit to New Delhi, the Indian side clarified that it was a cultural map and not a political one.

Saud also informed the Committee that the murals depicted in the newly constructed Indian Parliament building has a caption about the expansion of Emperor Ashoka’s empire during his time.

“The Committee is aware that the official opinion of the Government of India has come from the Foreign Minister that this issue is not a political issue,” he said, adding that the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi has been instructed to discuss this matter with the Indian side and send a report.

He said that the government’s attention had been drawn toward the murals depicted in the Indian Parliament building, and added that the committee, members of the committee, and the government are all clear and firm on Nepal’s international borders. “We have a national consensus on this issue,” he said.

Saud asserted that the government is fully committed to Nepal’s sovereignty, national integrity, independence, and international borders and will not let anyone encroach upon even an inch of Nepal’s land.

Earlier, Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Balen Shah triggered a controversy by placing the Greater Nepal map at his office in retaliation to the Indian murals that “depicted some parts of Nepal such as Lumbini and Kapilvastu” as part of ‘Akhand Bharat’.