India–Nepal border

An open border

India and Nepal share an exceptionally open border of about 1,800 km, with minimal fencing on either side, unlike India’s heavily militarised borders with Pakistan and China; it is widely seen as a symbol of the two countries’ special relationship. About 98 percent of it is settled.^[1]

The line goes back to the 1816 Treaty of Sugauli between Nepal, which was never colonised, and the British East India Company.^[2] Since 2014 the two countries have handled the border through a Boundary Working Group for technical work such as pillars, and talks between foreign secretaries for the disputed areas, though no dedicated foreign-secretary meeting had been held in the 12 years to 2026.^[1]

Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura

In the far west, near the three-way junction with Tibet, Nepal claims Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh under the Sugauli treaty, though Indian troops have held them since India’s 1962 war with China.^[2]

In May 2020 India opened an 80 km road through the Lipulekh Pass, a short route to Tibet and to Lake Mansarovar, sacred to Hindus; Nepal said about 19 km of it ran through its territory. Nepal responded with a new official map showing the areas as its own, and in June 2020 its parliament wrote the map into the constitution, the upper house voting 57–0.^[2] India rejected the map, saying it was not based on historical facts or evidence.^[2]

In May 2026 Nepal objected again when India and China planned to resume border trade and pilgrimages through Lipulekh; New Delhi called Kathmandu’s “unilateral artificial enlargement” of its claims untenable, and trade through the pass resumed.^[1]

“Such artificial enlargement of territorial claims will not be accepted by India.”^[2]

Susta

In the south, a 24 km stretch at Susta has no boundary pillars. The Sugauli treaty put the boundary in the middle of the Gandak (Narayani) River, and the river’s shifting course has complicated where it lies.^[1]

On 2 August 2026 Nepali villagers clashed with Indian border personnel, who, according to Nepali accounts, crossed into Nawalparasi West and dismantled a flood embankment the villagers were building; Nepal’s Armed Police Force intervened. According to Nepali media citing Nepal’s foreign ministry, India’s position was that building in the disputed area broke the status quo; India had made no official comment.^[1]