Nepal objects India's shorter road route to Kailash Mansarovar; MEA says road strip within India's territory

Responding to queries on a a press release by the Nepalese Foreign Ministry that expressed regret over Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s inauguration of a faster route for pilgrims of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra,the MEA said the road follows the pre-existing route used by the pilgrims of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and under the present project, the same road has been made pliable for the ease and convenience of pilgrims, locals and traders.

However, Nepal says the road traverses Lipulekh over which it lays claim.

India and Nepal have established mechanism to deal with all boundary matters, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastav said reierating India's stand on the matter, adding that the the boundary delineation exercise with Nepal is ongoing.

The MEA said that India is committed to resolving all outstanding boundary issues through diplomatic dialogue and in the spirit of our close and friendly bilateral relations with Nepal.

The process of scheduling Foreign Secretary level talks between the two countries is on and a date will be fixed after both the countries have dealt with COVID-19 pandemic successfully, the MEA said.

Mount Kailash is a 6,638 m high peak in the Kailash Range, which forms part of the Transhimalaya in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

The mountain is located near Lake Manasarovar and Lake Rakshastal.. Mount Kailash is a sacred journey for four religions: Bon, Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism.