New Delhi: Hours after diplomatic message of wanting its "friendly neighbours" India and China to resolve their border stand-off through peaceful means, Nepal has amended its citizenship rules for Indians.
According to reports, as per the new rule, any Indian woman marrying a citizen of Nepal will get citizenship after a period of seven years. Earlier, naturalised citizenship through matrimony could have been acquired within 24 hours!
Speaking about the latest rule change, Nepal's home minister Ram Bahadur Thapa cited Indian citizenship law, which grants citizenship only after seven years since the marriage.
However, Nepal remains exempted from this Indian law, a point which home minister Ram Bahadur Thapa failed to mention during the announcement.
Read: Nepal confident India, China will resolve differences through peaceful means
A new dimension to the complex border dispute between India and Nepal was added when Nepal’s parliament approving a new map for the country, including land India claims which includes Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh.
Nepal's President Bidya Devi Bhandari later signed the Constitution amendment bill to update the country's new political map which incorporated three strategically important Indian areas, notwithstanding New Delhi's strong protests against such an "artificial enlargement" of territorial claims.
According to strategic affairs experts, the domestic political rumblings in Nepal, its growing aspirations and assertiveness driven by China's strong economic backing and India's "complacency" in engaging with it made the landlocked nation take the unprecedented step of escalating its decades-old border row with India to a new high.
