Oli may call PM Modi on I-Day: Reports

Amid the escalating border row between New Delhi-Kathmandu and growing internal conflict in Nepal's ruling communist party, KP Sharma Oli is likely to call Narendra Modi on Independence Day to talk of mutual cooperation.

Hyderabad: Amid the border row between India and Nepal, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli may call to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Independence Day, media reports said on Thursday.

"Our Prime Minister is ready to call his counterpart Narendra Modi to wish him a happy 74th Independence Day and to talk of mutual benefits. There is a claim of high source to bring out the news. It is said that intensive talks are underway through the ambassador and other means in preparation for that, reported Janaaastha, a Kathmandu based news outlet.

Nepal recently completed the process of redrawing the country's political map through a Constitutional amendment, incorporating strategically important Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura areas which India maintains belong to it.

New Delhi termed the territorial claims by Nepal as "untenable" the "artificial enlargement".

The India-Nepal bilateral ties came under strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated an 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8.

Kathmandu reacted to the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through Nepalese territory. India rejected the claim asserting that the road lies completely within its territory.