Dr. Chiranjeevi Nepal, the economic advisor to President Ramchandra Paudel, has tendered his resignation amid a controversy over the government's decision to print a new map on the Rs 100 banknote. Spokesperson Shailaja Regmi Bhattarai confirmed that President Paudel has accepted Nepal's resignation.
The resignation comes after Nepal publicly expressed disagreement with the Council of Ministers' decision on Baisakh 20th to include the updated map depicting Kalapani and Lipulek regions in the new Rs 100 currency note design. Nepal stated it was wrong to unilaterally include the new map while negotiations with India regarding the territorial dispute were still ongoing.
The move to update the map has drawn criticism from India as well. Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said Nepal made a "unilateral decision" despite the existing mechanism between the two countries to discuss such matters.
Meanwhile, the CPN-UML parliamentary party meeting on Friday saw party chairman KP Sharma Oli denounce Nepal's comments, stating he would seriously raise the issue in Parliament.
The tensions over the map issue have further strained relations between Nepal and India, which have been engaged in discussions to resolve the long-standing border dispute over Kalapani, Lipulek and Limpiyadhura areas.
