Nepal and India have agreed to conduct a joint study of the ongoing construction activities carried by the Indian side along the Indo-Nepal border in Darchula district, Nepalese Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said on Monday.

Responding to a query by lawmakers in the House of Representatives, Foreign Minister Gyawali said the joint study of the construction activities will be conducted with the help of survey officials from both countries.

He said the government sent a team led by the Chief Survey Officer of Darchula district to conduct a field study of the security wall being constructed by India on its side of the Mahakali River on January 6 amid reports that the Indian side had encroached upon Nepali territory.

The team included the representatives of the Nepal Army, Armed Police Force, Nepal Police, and the District Administration Office, Darchula, he added.

The survey teams from Nepal and India will conduct on-the-spot observation of the construction activities on April 12 to see if the international border is encroached and whether Nepal's sovereignty has been honoured, the minister said.

“We have raised the matter seriously with the government of India and also exchanged letters,” he said.

Gyawali said the border experts from both the countries are making the field study as per the recommendations made by the team that it would be appropriate to find the exact measurement of the wall with the help of survey officials of both the countries and raise this issue with the relevant Indian authorities.

India-Nepal bilateral ties came under strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8 last year.

Nepal reacted sharply to the inauguration of the road, claiming that it passed through the Nepalese territory. India rejected the claim, asserting that the road lies completely within its territory.