The Bum La Pass is a border pass between China's

Tsona County Tsona County () or Cona County () is a county in Shannan prefecture in southern part of Tibet region of China. The county lies immediately to the north of the McMahon Line agreed as the mutual border between British India and Tibet in 1914. Chin ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

and India's

Tawang district Tawang district (Pron:/tɑ:ˈwæŋ or təˈwæŋ/) is the smallest of the 26 administrative districts of Arunachal Pradesh state in northeastern India. With a population of 49,977, it is the eighth least populous district in the country (out o ...

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares ...

. It is 37 km away from the town of Tawang in India's Tawang district and 43 km from the town of Tsona Dzong in China’s Tsona County. The pass currently serves as a trading point between Arunachal Pradesh and Tibet.Indo-China Border Trade
Department of Trade & Commerce, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, retrieved 13 July 2020. It is also an agreed Border Personnel Meeting point for the security forces of China and India.

Location

An old traders road went from

Tawang Tawang is a town and administrative headquarter of Tawang district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The town was once the capital of the Tawang Tract, which is now divided into the Tawang district and the West Kameng district. Tawan ...

via Milakatong La Pass ("La" in the Tibetan Language means "pass") to Bum La Pass and finally to Tsona Dzong in

History

1962 Sino-Indian War

The road to Bum La is also a historical route, the People's Liberation Army of China invaded India during the 1962

Sino-Indian War The Sino-Indian War took place between China and India from October to November 1962, as a major flare-up of the Sino-Indian border dispute. There had been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries after the 1959 Tibet ...

. Here in Bum La Pass one of the fiercest battle took place in the 1962

Opening of Trade Route in 2006

In 2006, Bumla pass was re-opened to traders for the first time in 44 years. Traders from both sides of the pass were permitted to enter each other's territories, in addition to postal workers from each country.

Climate

It is often covered with heavy snow throughout the year. It is one of the most off-beat passes in the world.

Tourism

Visit by civilian tourist of India is permissible with permission from the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

. The track is very treacherous, only

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definiti ...

s advisable, and that too only on clear weather day with no snowfall or rainfall.

Sangestar Tso

Created by falling rocks, boulders and trees in an earthquake, there is a Sangestar Tso lake (lake is called Tso in Tibetan) that featured

Madhuri Dixit Madhuri Dixit Nene (née Dixit; born 15 May 1967) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi films. A leading actress of Indian cinema, she has appeared in over 70 films. Noted by critics for her beauty, dancing skills, and characters ...

(

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

actress) in the movie

Koyla ''Koyla'' ( Coal) is a 1997 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed, co-written and produced by Rakesh Roshan, which stars Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Amrish Puri in lead roles, while Johnny Lever, Ashok Saraf, Salim Ghouse, D ...

, as a result this lake is sometimes also called ''Madhuri lake''. The lake is about 20 km from

town, about 7 km beyond the bifurcation of road leading to ''Bum La Pass''.

''Heap of Stones'' Monument

There is a ''Heap of Stones'' here where visitors place pebbles as gratitude to the mighty Himalayas and the guardians of our northern frontiers. There is a Sino-India friendship sign here.

Indo-China Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) point

It is one of the five officially agreed Border Personnel Meeting points between the

and the People's Liberation Army of China for regular consultations and interactions between the two armies to improve relations. Here, there is a hut on the India side where border meetings are held by the rival armies.

Permit

A special permit is required to visit Bum La Pass. The Permits can be requested at the Office of the Deputy Commissioner in

Tawang District Tawang district (Pron:/tɑ:ˈwæŋ or təˈwæŋ/) is the smallest of the 26 administrative districts of Arunachal Pradesh state in northeastern India. With a population of 49,977, it is the eighth least populous district in the country (out o ...

, and the same has to be stamped in the Indian army cantonment of Tawang. Without the army stamp, visitors will not be allowed through the numerous check posts on the way.

References

External links

* China–India border crossings Mountain passes of Arunachal Pradesh Mountain passes of Tibet Mountain passes of China Mountain passes of India Mountain passes of the Himalayas Borders of Arunachal Pradesh {{HimachalPradesh-geo-stub