NA meeting adjourned without entering agenda

Kathmandu: The meeting of the National Assembly (NA) has been adjourned until 12:15 pm on coming Wednesday without proceeding to its scheduled agenda.

The adjournment was announced by the NA Chairperson Narayan Prasad Dahal after the parliamentarians obstructed the proceedings of the meeting, raising objections over remarks made by Prime Minister Balendra Shah regarding border issues in the HoR meeting last Sunday.

As soon as the meeting commenced, several NA members expressed disagreement with the Prime Minister’s statement delivered in the House of Representatives concerning Nepal’s border situation.

They argued that parliamentary proceedings could not continue until the matter was addressed. NA Chairperson Dahal repeatedly urged parliamentarians to allow the House business to move forward, noting that several important issues were pending on the agenda.

Despite his appeals, parliamentarians maintained their objections, resulting in the adjournment of the meeting. Among the scheduled agenda items of the Upper House for today’s meeting was the reading of a letter received from the Office of the President regarding the authentication of a bill.

Furthermore, Minister for Finance Dr Swarnim Wagle was scheduled to present a proposal seeking general deliberations on the government’s annual revenue and expenditure estimates for the fiscal year 2083/84 BS.

The Finance Minister was also expected to table a proposal for consideration of the ‘Alternative Development Finance Mobilisation Bill, 2082 BS’ that was received from the HoR along with a message.

Earlier in the NA’s meeting, lawmaker Padam Bahadur Pariyar commented that the PM’s statement had raised questions about national sovereignty and thus called on the PM to appear before the parliament with evidence explaining which areas of Nepal’s land had allegedly been encroached upon (by India) and to what extent.

Likewise, another lawmaker, Ghanashyam Rijal, had also voiced disagreement with the Prime Minister’s remarks.

Similarly, Roshani Meche had asserted that Nepal had never encroached on even an inch of another country’s territory. Echoing similar concern, Tul Prasad Bishwokarma mentioned that ‘using land’ and ‘encroaching on a border’ are fundamentally different issues and thus demanded further clarification on the matter.

Meanwhile, lawmaker Mahanta Thakur had argued that even if Nepal had used some land belonging to India, it should not automatically be described as encroachment. He also cited that the Indian forces have long been stationed in Limpiyadhura and Lipulek, which Nepal claims as its territory, and the Indian side has been encroaching on these territories.

He cautioned that the Prime Minister’s remark in the parliament could further complicate efforts to resolve the Nepal-India border dispute.

It may be noted that PM Shah had remarked about land usage along the Nepal-India border, saying, ‘in some places, land currently used and occupied by Nepal may fall on the Indian side while land currently under India’s use and occupation may lie on Nepal’s side’ in parliament while responding to queries of the lawmakers.

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