Nepal has acknowledged that it cannot confirm whether it possesses the original 1816 Sugauli Treaty, a document central to the long-running territorial dispute with India over Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura. The revelation has drawn attention because the treaty established the boundary between Nepal and British India and remains a key historical reference in competing territorial claims. A parliamentary inquiry in Nepal searched government archives, ministries and museums but failed to locate the original papers.

The Sugauli Treaty was signed in December 1815 and ratified in March 1816 following Nepal’s defeat in the Anglo-Nepal War of 1814-16. Under Article 5, Nepal renounced claims to territories west of the Kali River, making the river an important reference point for the country’s western boundary. The present dispute largely revolves around the location of the Kali or Mahakali River’s source, with Nepal and India interpreting historical records and maps differently.

Speaking in Nepal’s House of Representatives, Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said the government did not have clear information about whether the official treaty documents were in its possession. He said records showed that documents relating to treaties were kept at the National Archives, but authorities could not establish whether those documents were the original official treaties. Khanal added that Nepal does possess documents relating to both the Sugauli Treaty and the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship with India.

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The search for the original documents has continued for years. When an Eminent Persons’ Group on Nepal-India relations began discussions in 2016, Nepal attempted to locate the original copy of the 1950 treaty but was unsuccessful and eventually provided a second copy to the group. A subsequent parliamentary inquiry examined libraries, archives, the Department of Archaeology, Narayanhiti Palace Museum and government ministries, but could not locate the originals of either treaty. In 2019, then Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali said Nepal was also trying to locate historical documents and maps in India and the United Kingdom.

The Sugauli Treaty remains particularly important because Nepal argues that the Kali River originates at Limpiyadhura, which would place Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh east of the river and within Nepal’s territory. India disputes this interpretation and maintains that the Kali originates from springs below the Lipulekh region. India has also cited administrative and revenue records to support its position that Kalapani has historically been administered as part of Pithoragarh district, now in Uttarakhand. The treaty itself does not explicitly identify Limpiyadhura as the river’s source, adding another layer to the dispute.

The territorial disagreement intensified in 2020 after India inaugurated a road linking Uttarakhand with Lipulekh on the route to Kailash Mansarovar. Nepal objected, and the government led by then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli subsequently issued a new political map incorporating Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura into Nepal. Parliament endorsed the map through a constitutional amendment, while India rejected Nepal’s move as an “artificial enlargement” of its territorial claims. With the original Sugauli Treaty still untraced, historical maps, archival records and competing interpretations of the Kali River’s source remain central to the continuing India-Nepal border dispute.

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