NEPAL ISSUES NEW ₹100 NOTE WITH DISPUTED MAP

NEPAL ISSUES NEW ₹100 NOTE WITH DISPUTED MAP

Nepal has issued a new ₹100 currency note featuring its revised national map that includes the disputed regions of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura, intensifying an already sensitive border issue between India and Nepal. The note, bearing former governor Maha Prasad Adhikari’s signature, was printed by China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation, with 300 million pieces produced at a cost of USD 8.9 million. India has rejected the depiction, calling it a unilateral, artificial assertion that does not reflect historical or administrative realities.

The dispute traces back to the 1816 Treaty of Sugauli, which fixed the Kali (Mahakali) River as Nepal’s western boundary. Subsequent cartographic inconsistencies created disagreement on the river’s true source—Nepal claims Limpiyadhura, while India identifies a spring near Kalapani. Over decades, local administrative maps, Cold War alignments, and bilateral treaties shaped divergent territorial narratives. The issue escalated when Nepal, in 2020, passed a revised political map asserting sovereignty over the tri-junction area after India inaugurated the Lipulekh road.