Continuing his rant against India, Prime Minister of Nepal KP Oli on Monday again attacked India for the rising number of coronavirus cases in his country. He said that the people coming in from India ‘without proper checking’ have vastly contributed to the spread of coronavirus in Nepal.
Fatality in Nepal is less in comparison to other countries of South Asia. Those coming from India are coming in without proper checking which has contributed to the further spread of #COVID19: Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli pic.twitter.com/doKSZ53p5e
— ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2020
Oli’s remark came against India while he was addressing the nation on Monday evening about his country’s fight against the coronavirus. “The pandemic is spreading now. All government agencies must be effective to fight this spread. The leadership of any structure that cannot meet the challenge of time will be immediately reorganized. Punishment and reward will be provided by making the role played in this hour of national crisis,” he said.
This is the second time that the Nepali Prime Minister had used such remarks against India and held India accountable for the rise of coronavirus cases in his country. Earlier last week, Oli claimed that the ‘Indian virus’ was more virulent than the coronavirus that ravaged Italy and China.
While addressing the parliament, Oli had then said, “Those who are sneaking in from India through illegal channels are spreading the virus in the country and some local representatives and party leaders are responsible for bringing in people from India without proper testing.”
“It has become difficult now to stem the spread of the coronavirus due to the flow of people from outside. Indian virus seems to be more lethal than the Chinese and the Italian,” he had said in the parliament last week.
Indo-Nepal relationship under strain after Oli’s belligerent claims
A fresh controversy has broken out last week when the Nepali Prime Minister KP Oli claimed on certain Indian territories as his. In a speech in which Oli criticised India for the coronavirus spread in Nepal, the Nepali PM also made claims against India by asserting that Nepal would “bring back at any cost” the Indian territories of Kalapani-Limpiyadhura-Lipulekh area.
A fresh political map which showed areas of Lipulekh and Kalapani as parts of Nepal was approved by the Nepal cabinet on Monday this week. It is notable to mention that this is perhaps the first time that the Himalayan nation which is contiguous with India has taken such a confrontational stand on the issue. Many attribute Nepal’s newfound bellicosity against India to China who is rapidly expanding its footprint in Kathmandu.
India sternly reacted to Nepal’s belligerence, describing the unveiling of a new political map with Indian areas as Nepali territory as an “unjustified cartographic assertion” that is unacceptable.
Condemning Nepal’s actions, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, “The Government of Nepal has released a revised official map of Nepal today that includes parts of Indian territory. This unilateral act is not based on historical facts and evidence.”
