Opposition parties have expressed serious objections inside and outside the parliament to Prime Minister Balendra Shah's statement that India has encroached not only on Nepal's land but also on Indian land.

The opposition parties have demanded an apology from the parliament, saying that Prime Minister Shah's statement in the parliament session on Sunday that Nepal had also encroached on Indian land was irresponsible and anti-national, as India had not claimed that its land had been encroached on.

Prime Minister Shah, while speaking in the House of Representatives session on Sunday, had made the statement that Nepal had also encroached on Indian land. 'You may be surprised to know one thing, I also came to know recently after becoming the prime minister, that not only India had encroached on Nepal's land, but Nepal had also encroached on a lot of Indian land,' the prime minister said.

Congress Vice President Bishwaprakash Sharma said that a reply should be given whether Prime Minister Shah's statement was the official view of the government and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) party. ‘He (Walendra) is the Prime Minister of the country, he should think a dozen times before speaking, restraint and maturity are even more important in sensitive diplomatic issues,’ Sharma said, ‘We want to know whether his words represent the government and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).’

UML Secretary Rajan Bhattarai, who is also a member of the Nepal-India Intellectual Group (EPG), formed to suggest solutions to bilateral problems including the border and treaty agreements between Nepal and India, said that it was sad that Nepal had become defensive in the border dispute after the Prime Minister’s statement.

‘If India itself sets a condition to demand the encroached land from Nepal in resolving the border with India, where will our Prime Minister give us?’ Bhattarai said, ‘The Prime Minister will give us where will he give us. We do not want to live encroaching on someone else’s land.’ We have not even encroached on someone else's land.'

He said that the Chief Executive, who has the primary responsibility of securing the border, has made the problem even more complicated by making irresponsible statements on the issue that India has not claimed anywhere till date. 'It is objectionable for such statements to come at a time when we are trying to hold a dialogue with India to resolve the border issue. Parliament should immediately withdraw his statement from the record by consensus. He should come to the House and apologize in his speech,' Bhattarai said.

Nepali Communist Party (NCP) leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha, who is also the former Foreign Minister, also said that the Prime Minister's statement was against the national interest.

‘Such a statement from a person in a high position like the Prime Minister has embarrassed and angered the patriotic Nepalis who are standing firmly in favor of Nepal’s national sovereignty, geographical integrity, independence and self-respect,’ Shrestha said. ‘Such a statement by the Prime Minister of his own country has embarrassed and angered the patriotic Nepali people who are standing firmly in favor of national sovereignty, geographical integrity, independence and self-respect.’

Shrestha said that Nepal’s continuous campaign to practically bring the Nepali land of Limpiyadhura-Lipulek-Kalapani and Susta areas encroached by India under Nepal’s sovereignty has been hampered.’

‘In 2007, the technical committee on the border of the two countries prepared the border strip map of all places except the Kalapani and Susta areas on the basis of consensus and in the Joint Working Group on the Border (EPG) formed in 2014, Nepal  "We have taken a stand to sign the strip map of all border areas only after an agreement is reached, and the Joint Commission at the level of Foreign Ministers held in Nepal in 2019 had decided to hold discussions at the level of Foreign Secretaries of the two countries to resolve the border dispute," Shrestha said. "Since then, Nepal has been continuing its diplomatic initiatives to implement this stand by including the map that includes its entire territory in the constitution," Shrestha said. "Despite the fact that it is so clear, no matter how much opposition and condemnation the Prime Minister may have for presenting such a sensitive issue in this way, it is not enough."

"The Prime Minister should immediately apologize to the Nepali people and Parliament for this, correct it and remove it from the records of Parliament," he said. "This is not a matter that can be easily forgotten and given a discount."

RPP Chairman Rajendra Lingden said that the Prime Minister's statement was completely inappropriate. The RPP has demanded the government to clarify the truth on this issue.

‘It has also weakened Nepal’s long-term campaign to bring Nepali territories including Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh, Kalapani and Susta, which were encroached upon by India, under Nepal’s effective sovereign jurisdiction,’ he said.

Shram Sanskriti Party spokesperson Satya Ghale said that the Prime Minister’s statement in Parliament was serious and objectionable. He said that the Prime Minister should apologize for the statement made without facts that Nepal had encroached on Indian land.