NDTV:
Nepal may have lost the original documents of the 1816 Sugauli Treaty. Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has indicated on the floor of Nepal’s Parliament’s lower house (House of Representatives or Pratinidhi Sabha) that the government cannot confirm if it possesses the original document of the 1816 Sugauli Treaty.
While some papers exist in the National Archives, extensive searches across state departments failed to locate the definitive, original signed document, the minister confirmed.
“The Government of Nepal does not have clear information on whether we possess the official treaty documents. There are records showing that some documents related to certain treaties are kept at the National Archives. But we do not have clear information as to whether those are the actual official treaties,” Khanal said.
In 2019, Nepal’s then Foreign Minister, Pradeep Gyawali had said that Nepal possessed copies of the treaties.
The 1816 Sugauli Treaty, signed with British-ruled India (East India Company) after the Anglo-Nepalese War from 1814-1816 forms the fundamental legal basis for Nepal’s modern territorial claims. The signatories of the treaty were Lieutenant Colonel Paris Bradshaw on behalf of the East India Company and Raj Guru Gajraj Mishra on behalf of the ruler of Nepal, King Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah.
However, the Sugauli Treaty is a pre-independence document and since India gained independence it has been conducting foreign relations with Nepal largely on the basis of other documents as well while the Sugauli Treaty remains a key foundational document.
