New Delhi: Lipulekh, the Himalayan border pass located at 17,000 ft near the trijunction of India, Nepal, and China (autonomous region of Tibet) has once again emerged as a flashpoint in India-Nepal ties.
Diplomatic tensions between the two countries flared up Wednesday, following a joint announcement by New Delhi and Beijing to resume border trade through Lipulekh (Uttarakhand), Shipki La (Himachal Pradesh), and Nathmeu La (Sikkim) passes which were closed owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent India-China tensions.
Both sides agreed to reopen border trade through the three designated trading points during the 24th round of the Special Representatives’ dialogue on the boundary question, held in New Delhi Tuesday.
Kathmandu swiftly objected to the inclusion of Lipulekh in the trade resumption plan, reiterating the claim that the pass falls within its sovereign territory.
“The official map of Nepal, incorporated into the constitution, clearly shows Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh, and Kalapani as integral parts of our country,” it said, adding that both India and China had been informed of Nepal’s position. It also urged both neighbours to desist from any activity such as road construction or trade in the disputed area.
New Delhi, however, rejected Nepal’s objections. “Any unilateral artificial enlargement of territorial claims is untenable,” said Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs. India maintains that the region has been under its administrative control for decades, and that border trade with China through Lipulekh dates back to 1954.
The disagreement, while not new, has resurfaced at a sensitive time.
It comes days after Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited Nepal, and weeks before Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s visit to India starting 16 September. This will be Oli’s first official trip to India since his return as prime minister in July last year.
During this time, Oli will have already visited China twice, including for the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Heads of State summit to be held in Tianjin in the first week of September.
Against this backdrop, ThePrint explains why Lipulekh Pass is significant in the broader geopolitical context and boundary issues between India, Nepal and China.
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At centre of dispute: 1816 Treaty of Sugauli
Most recent tensions over Lipulekh Pass can be traced back to 2019 when India published a new political map showing Kalapani, where Lipulekh is located, within Indian territory.
Nepal objected, contending that the entire Kalapani-Limpiyadhura-Lipulekh area lies east of the Kali river and therefore belongs to Nepal under the 1816 Treaty of Sugauli with the British East India Company. The treaty established Kali river as the western boundary of Nepal. It did not, however, clearly identify the river’s origin.
British-era maps are riddled with inconsistencies, with various cartographic representations supporting both Indian and Nepali claims.
The core disagreement, therefore, lies in the origin point of Kali river. Nepal claims it originates near Limpiyadhura, placing the disputed areas firmly within its territory.
India identifies Kalapani as the river’s source, supporting its claim with long-standing administrative control of the region.
New Delhi has maintained a military and logistical presence in the Kalapani region since the 1962 India-China war, expanding road infrastructure there in recent years.
In May 2020, India inaugurated a new road from Dharchula in Uttarakhand to Lipulekh, cutting the travel time for Hindu pilgrims visiting the sacred Mount Kailash in Tibet. Nepal responded by amending its constitution to release a new political map, incorporating Kalapani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhura within its national boundaries.
Later that month, Nepal’s then defence minister Ishwor Pokhrel accused then Indian Army chief Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane of making remarks he suggested were an ‘insult’ to Nepal. Naravane had, in a veiled reference to China, suggested Nepal’s strong objections to India’s new road project in Uttarakhand were raised “at the behest of someone else”.
In response, Pokhrel said Naravane’s remarks were “insulting” and disregarded Nepal’s history, sovereignty, and unique socio-cultural ties with India. He also said the remarks hurt the sentiments of Nepali Gurkha soldiers serving in the Indian Army.
Nepal also raised objections as recently as 2015 when India and China agreed to designate Lipulekh as a bilateral trade route during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit to Beijing. At the time, Nepal’s foreign ministry sent diplomatic notes to both India and China, protesting the move which it said was made without Nepal’s consultation or consent.
Despite Nepal’s objections, historical records indicate that India and China have used the Lipulekh Pass for decades for trade. As far back as 29 April, 1954, the two countries signed an agreement allowing pilgrims and traders to use several Himalayan passes, including Shipki La, Mana, Niti, Kungri Bingri, Darma, and Lipulekh, without involving Kathmandu.
In 1991, India and China signed a memorandum on resumption of border trade, designating Lipulekh (Qiangla) as a key entry-exit point.
“With the view of facilitating the visits of persons engaged in border trade and exchange of commodities and means of transportation, [India and China] have decided that Lipulekh (Qiangla) be the border pass for the entrance and exit of the said persons, commodities and means of transportation of the two sides,” read the memorandum. This was formalised through protocols agreed upon in 1992 and again in 2005, 2014, and 2015, with agreements covering trade, pilgrimages, and border cooperation. In nearly all instances, Nepal lodged diplomatic protests with the embassies of both countries in Kathmandu.
Strategic, religious significance & the China factor
For India, Lipulekh is a crucial land route to the Kailash Mansarovar shrine and serves as a vital strategic corridor for troop and supply movement along the Himalayan frontier. It provides a vital land connection to Tibet and plays a key role in India’s border management and troop mobility along the sensitive Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
The reopening of trade through Lipulekh also reflects a thaw in India-China relations, which have been strained since the 2020 Galwan clashes.
China, while a stakeholder in the resumption of trade through Lipulekh, has remained neutral on the territorial dispute, treating it as a bilateral issue between India and Nepal.
Beijing benefits from trade across the Himalayan passes but has avoided direct comment on Nepal’s claims, even as Kathmandu asserts it has raised the matter with Chinese officials. As for Nepal, Lipulekh is a symbol of its sovereignty and national pride.
Kathmandu views the latest India-China joint announcement as a direct challenge to its territorial claims. It argues that any bilateral activity in the disputed area, without Nepal’s consent, undermines its sovereignty and could prejudice future negotiations. While both New Delhi and Kathmandu have expressed willingness to resolve the issue through diplomatic dialogue, boundary talks have been stalled since 2020.
There are also strong domestic pressures at play. Territorial sovereignty is a highly sensitive issue in Nepalese politics. Successive governments have faced public and political pressure to assert Nepal’s claims over the disputed region.
Many in Kathmandu fear sustained trade and infrastructure development could further entrench India’s de facto control over the area.
“India and China reaching an agreement to resume trade through the Lipulekh Pass without consulting Nepal is a matter of serious concern for Nepal’s national interest,” Nepal’s former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai wrote Wednesday in a post on X.
नेपालसंग कुनै परामर्श नगरी लिपुलेक नाका भएर भारत र चीनले पुनः व्यापार गर्ने सहमति गर्नु नेपाली राष्ट्रिय हितकानिम्ति गम्भीर चिन्ता र चासोको विषय हो।
पहिलेदेखि नेपालले दावी गर्दै आएको, भारतले समेत विवादको विषय स्वीकारेको र चीनले नेपालसंग परामर्श गरेर मात्र निर्णय गर्ने भन्दै… https://t.co/1dIvBdC0Pb
— Baburam Bhattarai (@brb1954) August 20, 2025
For the broader region, the dispute underscores the complex interplay between history, geography, and contemporary geopolitics in the Himalayan frontier, shaped increasingly by the evolving dynamics between India and China.
“This territory, which Nepal has long claimed, which India has also acknowledged as a matter of dispute, and which China has said it would decide only after consulting Nepal—having these two large neighbors unilaterally agree again—is a major challenge to Nepal’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity,” Bhattarai added.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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