In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Nepal and India have become caught up in a border dispute, following competing territorial claims by both sides over controversial land in the Himalayan region.
Here is a guide to how and why the conflict started:
What is the issue?
Nepal’s Parliament on Saturday overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to change the nation’s political map to include territory claimed by both India and Nepal.
The voting follows the government’s issuing of a new map last month that showed the disputed territory within its borders.
That move was strongly criticized by India and soured relations between the South Asian neighbors.
Ties in troubled waters
The latest border dispute between the countries began over India’s inauguration last month of a Himalayan link road built in a disputed region that lies at a strategic three-way junction with Tibet and China.
The 80-kilometer road, cuts through the Lipu Lekh Himalayan pass, considered one of the shortest and most feasible trade routes between India and China.
Nepal fiercely contested the inauguration of the road and viewed the alleged incursion as a stark example of bullying by its much larger neighbor, triggering a new dispute over the strategically important territory.
The dispute over the territory brought a new wedge in relations between the two nations, leading to an exchange of strong-worded statements and remarks from both sides.
Nepal has proposed resolving the border dispute through dialogue, but officials say they have not received any response from India.
Border history
Nepal, which was never under colonial rule, has long claimed the areas of Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipu Lekh in accordance with the 1816 Sugauli treaty with the British Raj, although these areas have remained in control of Indian troops since India fought a war with China in 1962.
There are two existing territorial disputes between India and Nepal, over the Kalapani territory - a 400sqkm area at the India–Nepal–China tri-junction in Western Nepal, and Susta - a 140sqkm area in Southern Nepal.
Nepal claims that the river to the west of Kalapani is the main Kali river hence the area should belong to Nepal. But India claims that the river to the west of Kalapani is not the main Kali river, and, therefore the border there should be based on the ridge lines of the mountains Om Parvat to the east of the river.
Dispute intensifies
The dispute intensified in 1997 as the Nepali parliament considered a treaty on hydro-electric development of the river.
India and Nepal differ as to which stream constitutes the source of the river.
Nepal has reportedly tabled an 1856 map from the British India Office to support its position.
In 2015, the Nepalese parliament objected an agreement between India and China to trade through Lipulekh Pass, a mountainous pass in the disputed Kalapani area, stating that the agreement between India and China to trade through Kalapani violates Nepal's sovereign rights over the territory.
Nepal has called for the withdrawal of the Indian border forces from Kalapani area.
What's next?
Analysts say the latest border dispute has given rise to nationalism in Nepal as it is difficult to foresee a withdrawal of Indian troops, as the official Nepali position demands.
The situation acquires a further hurdle against the background of a simmering India-China border dispute along their de facto border - the Line of Actual Control (LAC) - a border that remains undemarcated.
Furthermore, Nepal's ruling Communist Party government has reached out to China for investment and better connectivity in recent years, which has troubled India.
But Beijing's ambiguous position that Kalapani is a bilateral issue between India and Nepal has been keenly watched by Nepali analysts since the current road is a result of its 2015 agreement with New Delhi.
Despite the tensions - the second over Kalapani in six months and the most serious bilateral dispute since the 2015 unofficial blockade - analysts on both sides have begun to call for a political solution to Kalapani.
