Manisha Koirala urges India, Nepal citizens to stay civil

Amid a strain in ties between India and Nepal, actress Manisha Koirala, a Nepali national, urged people of both the countries to be not “aggressive and disrespectful” towards each other.

Koirala, a leading Bollywood star of her times, took to Twitter to request people to let the respective governments resolve the issues.

“A heartfelt request please let’s not be aggressive and disrespectful..we are in this situation together..our respective Gov’s will resolve the issue. In the meantime we can be civil ..I remain hopeful [sic],” she tweeted.

Earlier, Nepal’s Upper House of Parliament endorsed a proposal to discuss the Constitution amendment bill to update the country’s map that incorporates parts of Indian territory.

Nepal’s House of Representatives had on June 10 endorsed a proposal seeking consideration of a constitution amendment bill for change of country’s map after a lengthy discussion. Nepal has made offers to India to hold “diplomatic talks to resolve the territorial issue” between the two countries.

New Delhi has said that the updated map is “not based on historical facts and evidence” and termed the claims by Nepal as artificial enlargement.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava also said that the move is violative of the current understanding to hold talks on outstanding boundary issues.