Question made by border regulations

Nepalganj, Nov 2 - Charging that the border regulations are against the spirit of the treaty, a foreign relations expert, Tuesday, said that the 1950 Nepal-India treaty has lost its relevance.

The regulation of border crossings came into effect from Tuesday at the Nepalgunj-Rupedia transit point. The agreement was signed on October 23 at the Home Secretary level. People from India and Nepal who had freely traveled into each others' territory, are now required to produce identity cards before crossing the border. From Tuesday, visitors from both countries have been restricted in their movement at the Nepalgunj-Rupedia border crossing, the biggest transit point for mid-western Nepal.

On Tuesday, Nepali officials were seen even more excited to stop people crossing the border without identity cards. They were rushing to the border with two separate registers to record personal details of visitors while Indian authorities were busy constructing a check post. The Jamunaha transit point, which used to stay open 24 hours, now opens only during 4 am to 9 pm. Travelers from across the border who arrive after 9 pm get stranded in the border due to the new regulation.

The agreement that contravenes the 1950 Peace and Friendship treaty between Nepal and India, which was signed at the home secretary level, aims to regulate all border crossings.

One of the clauses in the Nepal-India peace and friendship treaty signed on July 31, 1950, states that people of both the countries enjoy unfettered movement along the borders for work of similar nature. The treaty grants, on a reciprocal basis, nationals of one country in the territories of the other the same privileges on the matter of movement.

According to a source, the then Home Secretary Ananta Raj Pandey hammered out the agreement with his Indian counterpart.Indian paramilitary force is to keep vigil over other places to ensure that nobody crosses each other's territory from unauthorized crossings. The first phase of the regulation is being enforced along 108-kms along Nepal-India border. In the second phase, it will be enforced in the Banbasa transit point in the far-west.

Meanwhile, both Nepali and Indian citizens have opposed the move saying that the regulation was complex and impracticable.