Lipulekh Pass

Lipulekh () is a Himalayan pass in Kalapani territory is on the border of India, Nepal and China. It is one of the routes for the pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Mansarovar in Tibet, China.

Tourism

This pass links the Byans valley of Uttarakhand, India with the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, and forms the last territorial point in Indian territory. The ''Kailash Mansarovar Yatra'', a Hinduism pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar, traverses this pass. Lipulekh pass is connected to Chang Lobochahela, near the old trading town of Purang (Taklakot), in Tibet.

India-China Trading Post

The pass was the first Indian border post to be opened for trade with China in 1992. This was followed by the opening of Shipki La, Himachal Pradesh in 1994 and Nathu La, Sikkim in 2006. Presently, Lipulekh Pass is open for cross-border trade every year from June through September.

Products cleared for export from India include jaggery, misri, tobacco, spices, pulses, fafar flour, coffee, vegetable oil, ghee and various miscellaneous consumable items. The main imports into India include sheep wool, passam, sheep, goats, borax, yak tails, chhirbi (butter) and raw silk.

India-China BPM (Border Personnel Meeting) point

In 2014, India and China discussed using the pass as an additional official Border Personnel Meeting point between the Indian Army and the People's Liberation Army of China for regular consultations and interactions between the two armies to improve relations.

Nepalese claims

The Nepalese claims to the southern side of the pass, called Kalapani territory, are based on 1816 Sagauli Treaty between British East India Company and Nepal. The treaty delimited the boundary along the Kali River (also called the Sharda River and Mahakali River). India claims that the river begins at the Kalapani village as this is where all its tributaries merge. But Nepal claims that it begins from the Lipulekh Pass.
The historical record shows that, some time around 1865, the British shifted the border near Kalapani to the ''watershed'' of the Kalapani river instead of the river itself, thereby claiming the area now called the Kalapani territory.

This is consistent with the British position that the Kali River begins only from the Kalapani springs,
: "The drainage area of the Kalapani lies ''wholly within British territory'', but a short way below the springs the Kali forms the boundary with Nepal." (Emphasis added)
which meant that the agreement of Sugauli did not apply to the region above the springs.

After the Indian prime minister's visit to China in 2015, India and China agreed to open a trading post in Lipulekh, raising objections from Nepal.

Lipulekh dispute: UCPN (M) writes to PM Koirala, Indian PM Modi & Chinese Prez Xi
The Kathmandu Post, 9 July 2015.
The Nepalese parliament stated that 'it violates Nepal's sovereign rights over the disputed territory'.Nepal objects to India-China trade pact via Lipu-Lekh Pass
The Economic Times, 9 June 2015. Nepal now intends to resolve the issue via diplomatic means with India.

See also

*Nathu La
*Shipki La
*Dharchula

References

Bibliography

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External links

Photographs of the Lipulekh Pass

{{Mountain passes of China

China–India border crossings
Geography of Pithoragarh district
Mountain passes of Uttarakhand
Mountain passes of Tibet
Mountain passes of the Himalayas
Territorial disputes of Nepal