Indian and Nepal authorities held an informal two hour long meeting on Tuesday at the Indo-Nepal border near Champawat district of Uttarakhand to discuss the encroachment in no man’s land by Nepalese citizens and agreed not to carry any activity on the disputed land and to restore the status quo, said officials. The meeting was attended by the district magistrate of Champawat, superintendent of police (SP), Champawat and commandant of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) from the Indian side. The Nepalese side was represented by chief district officer (equivalent to DM in India) of Kanchanpur district adjoining the border in Nepal, SP Kanchanpur and SP Armed Police Force (SSB’s counterpart).
“Both the sides discussed the border issue and agreed upon taking measures to not allow it (tensions) to escalate. We also agreed on not carrying any activity on the disputed land till the border is clearly demarcated,” said Surendra Narayan Pandey, district magistrate Champawat district.
Pandey added that the two sides also agreed to restore the state quo at the no man’s land during the meeting. The meeting was meant for confidence-building and maintaining harmony between the two sides, Pandey said. “We both stressed on ending the border dispute permanently by involving the agencies concerned in both the countries to conduct a survey of the disputed area so as to demarcate the border clearly. We all also agreed to end the dispute and restore the status quo as it was earlier before the recent encroachment by Nepalese people on no-man’s land,” said Pandey.