KATHMANDU - Nepal has strongly protested over the construction of a border road in its region by India, who is continuously following its hegemonic designs and intervention in regional states, asking it to refrain from carrying out any activity ‘inside its territory’. India has recently opened a road, which passes through a disputed territory between India and Nepal. The link road connects Dharchula in the India state of Uttarakhand to the Lipu Lekh pass near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) - India’s border with China. The southern side of the Lipu Lekh pass, called the Kalapani territory, is a disputed region between India and Nepal. “This unilateral act runs against the understanding reached between the two countries including at the level of prime ministers that a solution to boundary issues would be sought through negotiation,” Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. In a separate statement, Nepal’s ruling Nepal Communist Party has accused India of undermining Nepal’s sovereignty. India, however, rejected Nepal’s statement, claiming that the new road lies ‘completely within’ its territory. On Saturday, several people gathering outside the Indian embassy in Kathmandu to protest against the road, despite a nationwide coronavirus lockdown. “The Government of Nepal should immediately ask the Government of India in writing to stop construction or any activity that changes the status quo unilaterally in the Lipulekh area, which lies in Nepal’s territory,” tweeted former foreign secretary Madhuraman Acharya. Expressing serious concern over the Indian encroachment of the Nepali territory, former foreign minister Kamal Thapa urged the Nepal government to immediately take initiatives to hold talks with the Indian side.