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Lipu-Lekh Pass
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Elevation	16,780 ft (5,115 m)
Location	Border between Uttarakhand, India and Tibet, China
Range	Himalayas
Coordinates	30°14′03″N 81°01′44″E / 30.234080°N 81.028805°E / 30.234080; 81.028805

The Lipulekh Pass (Chinese: 里普列克山口) is a Himalayan pass on the border between Uttarakhand, India and the Tibet region of China, near their trijunction with Nepal. Nepal has had ongoing claims to the southern side of the pass, called Kalapani territory, which has been under Indian administration since around 1960, but this issue is often downplayed by the Indian government. The pass is near the trading town of Taklakot (Purang) in Tibet and has been used since ancient times by traders, mendicants and pilgrims transiting between India and Tibet. It is also used by pilgrims to Kailas and Manasarovar.

Tourism

This pass links the Pithoragarh district India with the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, and forms the last territorial point in India's 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.

In 2024, Uttarakhand government has identified a viewpoint on the western shoulder of the pass, which it termed "Old Lipulekh Pass" (30°14′56″N 81°01′25″E / 30.2488°N 81.0237°E / 30.2488; 81.0237 (Old Lipulekh Pass)), from where Mount Kailash can be seen.

Transportation

The Lipulekh Pass is reached from the Indian side via the Pithoragarh-Lipulekh Pass Highway (PLPH).

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, 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. The Nepalese parliament stated that 'it violates Nepal's sovereign rights over the disputed territory'.

See also

• Nathu La
• Shipki La
• Pithoragarh district
• Dharchula

References

1. Walton, Almora District Gazetteer (1911), p. 229.
2. ^ Ling, L.H.M.; Abdenur, Adriana Erthal; Banerjee, Payal (19 September 2016). India China: Rethinking Borders and Security. University of Michigan Press. pp. 49–50. ISBN 978-0-472-13006-1.
3. ^ "Resolve Lipu-Lekh Pass dispute: House panel to govt", Republica, 28 June 2018, archived from the original on 28 June 2018
4. ^ Lipulekh dispute: UCPN (M) writes to PM Koirala, Indian PM Modi & Chinese Prez Xi, The Kathmandu Post, 9 July 2015.
5. ^ How Uttarakhand Is Providing "Closer Darshan" To Kailash-Mansarovar Pilgrims, NDTV News, 29 June 2023.
6. India, Nepal and the Kalapani issue, Decan Herald, 19 November 2019.
7. Manandhar, Mangal Siddhi; Koirala, Hriday Lal (June 2001), "Nepal-India Boundary Issue: River Kali as International Boundary", Tribhuvan University Journal, 23 (1): 3–4, The map 'District Almora' published by the Survey of India for the first time shifted the boundary further east beyond even the Lipu Khola (Map-5). The new boundary moving away from Lipu Khola follows the southern divide of Pankhagadh Khola and then moves north along the ridge.
8. Atkinson, Edwin Thomas (1981) , The Himalayan Gazetteer, Volume 3, Part 2, Cosmo Publications, pp. 381–382 – via archive.org: "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)
9. Gupta, Alok Kumar (2009), "The Context of New-Nepal: Challenges and Opportunities for India", Indian Journal of Asian Affairs, 22 (1/2): 57–73, JSTOR 41950496: "India holds that the river Kali begins from the meeting point of the Lipu Gad with the stream from Kalapani springs." (p. 63); See also Kalapani: A Bone of Contention Between India and Nepal, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, 2000
10. Nepal objects to India-China trade pact via Lipu-Lekh Pass, The Economic Times, 9 June 2015.

Bibliography

• Walton, H. G., ed. (1911), Almora: A Gazetteer, District Gazetteers of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, vol. 35, Government Press, United Provinces – via archive.org

External links

• Photographs of the Lipulekh Pass

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