KATHMANDU: Shram Sanskriti Party Chairman Harka Raj Rai (Sampang) has sent an open letter to Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chairman Rabi Lamichhane, demanding the party officially clarify its stance on Prime Minister Balendra (Balen) Shah’s recent controversial border remarks.

The controversy erupted during a parliamentary session on May 31, when PM Shah claimed that “Nepal has also encroached upon India’s border in many places.”

He suggested both countries review historical maps from the 1816 Sugauli Treaty era to resolve the long-standing dispute.

The Prime Minister’s remarks sparked immediate outrage from opposition lawmakers, diplomats, and border experts, who argued that admitting to “encroachment” without evidence severely compromises Nepal’s sovereign legal standing.

Opposition MPs strongly demanded that the statements be expunged from the parliamentary record.

While the Foreign Ministry and Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal later scrambled to downplay the comments—clarifying that the Prime Minister was simply referring to localized, river-shifting mismatches rather than official geopolitical land grabs—Harka Sampang and his party have continued to protest, calling on ruling party RSP to formally break its silence on the matter.