British PM Starmer Told PM Balen To Get Back Nepal’s Ceded Land From India? No, Viral Video Is Misleading

Claim
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Nepal’s PM Balen to try and get Nepal’s lost territory from India.
Fact
No, the British PM’s congratulatory message is misconstrued. The viral claim is false. 

Videos claiming that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged Nepal’s newly elected Prime Minister Balendra Shah to try and get back the territory ceded to India during Sugauli treaty have gone viral on TikTok.

On April 8, 2026, newly appointed Prime Minister Balendra Shah (Balen) held a collective meeting with 17 ambassadors and foreign diplomats based in Kathmandu at Singha Durbar, breaking the traditional practice of meeting them individually.

Against this backdrop, TikTok user @utmdai posted a video carrying a photo showing Prime Minister Balendra Shah and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. A person speaking on the video says, “British Ambassador to Nepal told Prime Minister Balendra Shah to try and get back its territory lost to India. Text superimposed on the video reads, “British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote a letter to Prime Minister Balendra Shah. Take back the land ceded to India in the Sugauli treaty.” 

The video posted on April 12 has garnered 7582 likes, 465 users have shared it, and 209 people have commented until the last count.

Likewise, another user @manoj…..5 posted a video carrying the same photo showing PM Balen and British PM Starmer. Audio accompanying the video and the text superimposed on it resembled the first video.

Newschecker found the claim to be misleading.

Fact Check /Verification

To check the veracity of the claim made in the viral video, Newschecker searched for news regarding British Prime Minister Starmer’s message to Prime Minister Balendra Shah.

The search threw up several news reports regarding the British Prime Minister’s congratulatory message to PM Balendra Shah published on the major news media. On checking a news report, dated April 8, 2026, posted on Ratopati online, we found that British ambassador to Nepal Rob Fenn handed over a letter sent by British Prime Minister Keri Starmer to PM Balendra Shah.  

“In his letter, British Prime Minister Starmer congratulated Balen on his election as Prime Minister and recalled the long-standing friendship between Nepal and the UK. He noted that both countries share common interests in shared priorities such as economic growth, climate resilience and security,” the news quoted the British PM’s letter.  

However, we did not find any news or any reference of the British Prime Minister urging Balen about Nepal’s lost territory to India during the Sugauli Treaty.

What is the Sugauli Treaty?

The Treaty of Sugauli that established the boundary line of Nepal and colonial India was signed on 2 December 1815 and ratified by 4 March 1816 between the East India company and King of Nepal following the Anglo-Nepalese War of 1814-16.

Further, we found another article, dated April 8, 2026 posted on Diplomat Nepal about the British ambassador’s handing over his prime minister’s message to PM Balen. The article also reported the same as Ratopati online.

We also found the British PM’s letter to PM Balen posted on the verified Facebook page named UK in Nepal. The post carrying a photo of PM Balen and ambassador Fen did not mention anything about the Sugauli treaty of India.

Thus, our findings clearly showed the claim made by the viral videos is exaggerated and false.

Conclusion

No, the British Prime Minister didn’t tell his Nepali counterpart Balen anything about Nepal’s lost territory and the Sugauli treaty. The claim made by the viral video is false.

Result: False

 Sources
Diplomat Nepal, April 8, 2026
Ratopati, April 8, 2026
UK in Nepal/Facebook, April 8, 2026
International Journal of History