Lipulekh Pass: Difference between revisions

Lipulekh Pass
Lipulekh Pass
Simplified Chinese	里普列克山口
Traditional Chinese	里普列克山口
Transcriptions
Transcriptions

Lipu-Lekh Pass
Lipu-Lekh Pass
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

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8km
5miles

TIBET
(CHINA)

NEPAL

KUMAON
(INDIA)

Tinkar
Khola

Kalapani
River

Tinkar

Changru

Tinkar
Pass

Om Parvat

P. 6172

Gunji

Burang

Kalapani
village

Lipulekh
Pass

The vicinity of the Lipulekh Pass

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,^[2] 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.^[3]^[4] 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.^[5]

Transportation

The Lipulekh Pass is reached from the Indian side via the Pithoragarh-Lipulekh Pass Highway (PLPH).^[5]

Nepalese claims

An 1879 Survey of India map showing the Kalapani territory as part of Kumaon, India

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.^[6] 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.^[7] This is consistent with the British position that the Kali River begins only from the Kalapani springs,^[8] which meant that the agreement of Sugauli did not apply to the region above the springs.^[9]

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.^[3]^[4] The Nepalese parliament stated that 'it violates Nepal's sovereign rights over the disputed territory'.^[10]

References

^ Walton, Almora District Gazetteer (1911), p. 229.
^ ^a ^b 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.
^ ^a ^b "Resolve Lipu-Lekh Pass dispute: House panel to govt", Republica, 28 June 2018, archived from the original on 28 June 2018
^ ^a ^b Lipulekh dispute: UCPN (M) writes to PM Koirala, Indian PM Modi & Chinese Prez Xi, The Kathmandu Post, 9 July 2015.
^ ^a ^b How Uttarakhand Is Providing "Closer Darshan" To Kailash-Mansarovar Pilgrims, NDTV News, 29 June 2023.
^ India, Nepal and the Kalapani issue, Decan Herald, 19 November 2019.
^ 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 [during 1865–1869] 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.
^ Atkinson, Edwin Thomas (1981) [first published 1884], 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)
^ 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
^ 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

[FOOTNOTEWalton,_Almora_District_Gazetteer1911229-1] Walton, Almora District Gazetteer (1911), p. 229.

[LingAbdenur2016-2] 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.

[myrepublica-3] "Resolve Lipu-Lekh Pass dispute: House panel to govt", Republica, 28 June 2018, archived from the original on 28 June 2018

[kathmandupost-4] Lipulekh dispute: UCPN (M) writes to PM Koirala, Indian PM Modi & Chinese Prez Xi, The Kathmandu Post, 9 July 2015.

[NDTV_Jun_2023-5] 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.

[District_Almora_map-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 [during 1865–1869] 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.

[Almora_British_territory-8] Atkinson, Edwin Thomas (1981) [first published 1884], 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.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

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[9]

[10]

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 | photo =
 | photo_caption =
-| map = India Uttarakhand#China Tibet Ngari#
+| map = India Uttarakhand#China Tibet Ngari#Nepal Sudurpashchim Province
 | elevation_ft = 16780
 | elevation_ref = {{sfnp|Walton, Almora District Gazetteer|1911|p=229}}
 | traversed =
-| location = Border between [[India]] and [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]], China<ref name="LingAbdenur2016"/>
+| location = Border between [[Uttarakhand]], India and [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]], China<ref name="LingAbdenur2016"/>
 | range = [[Himalayas]]
 | coordinates = {{coord|30.234080|81.028805|type:pass|format=dms |display=title,inline}}
@@ Line 90: / Line 90: @@
 | label-pos6 = bottom |label-offset-x6 = -24 |label-offset-y6 = 0
 | mark-title6 = Om Parvat
-| mark-description6 = Peak on India–Tibet border
+| mark-description6 = Peak on India–Nepal border
 <!-- Tinkar Pass  -->
 | mark-coord7 = {{coord|30.1941715|81.0397054}}
@@ Line 100: / Line 100: @@
 | label-pos7 = right |label-offset-x7 = 0 |label-offset-y7 = -5
 | mark-title7 = Tinkar Pass
-| mark-description7 = Mountain pass on India & China border
+| mark-description7 = Mountain pass on China–Nepal border
 <!-- Changru -->
 | mark-coord8 = {{coord|30.1295|80.8834}}
@@ Line 141: / Line 141: @@
 | label-pos12 = right |label-offset-x12 = 0 |label-offset-y12 = 0
 | mark-title12 = Tinkar Khola
-| mark-description12 = Tributary of Kali in India
+| mark-description12 = Tributary of Kali in Nepal
 <!-- AREAS -->
 <!-- Kumaon -->
@@ Line 153: / Line 153: @@
 | mark-title20 = [[Kumaon division|Kumaon]]
 | mark-description20 = Part of [[Uttarakhand]]
-<!-- India -->
+<!-- Nepal -->
 | mark-coord21 = {{coord|30.09|80.95}}
 | mark21 = red pog.svg
 | mark-size21 = 0
-| label21 = INDIA
+| label21 = NEPAL
 | label-size21 = 14
 | label-color21 = dark grey
 | label-pos21 = top |label-offset-x21 = 0 |label-offset-y21 = 0
-| mark-title21 = [[India]]
+| mark-title21 = [[Nepal]]
 | mark-description21 =
 <!-- Tibet -->
@@ Line 174: / Line 174: @@
 | mark-description22 = Autonomous region of [[China]]
 }}
-'''Lipulekh La''' or '''Lipulekh Pass''' is a [[Himalaya]]n [[mountain pass|pass]] in the border between [[India]] on the northern border with [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]] region held by China.<ref name=Nd1/><ref name="LingAbdenur2016">
+The '''Lipulekh Pass''' ({{CJKV|c=里普列克山口}})  is a [[Himalaya]]n [[mountain pass|pass]] on the border between [[Uttarakhand]], [[India]] and the [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]] region of China,<ref name="LingAbdenur2016">
 {{cite book|last1=Ling|first1=L.H.M.|last2=Abdenur|first2=Adriana Erthal|last3=Banerjee|first3=Payal|title=India China: Rethinking Borders and Security|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IIsxDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA50|date=19 September 2016|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=978-0-472-13006-1|pages=49–50}}
+</ref> 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.<ref name=myrepublica/><ref name=kathmandupost/> The pass is near the trading town of Taklakot ([[Burang Town|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 [[Mount Kailash|Kailas]] and [[Manasarovar]].
-</ref> The '''Old Lipulekh Peak''' or '''Old Lipulekh Pass''', a [[Mount Kailash]] viewing point at 17,500 ft elevation, lies west of Lipulekh Pass.<ref name=Nd1>[https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/how-uttarakhand-is-providing-closer-darshan-to-kailash-mansarovar-pilgrims-4161928 How Uttarakhand Is Providing "Closer Darshan" To Kailash-Mansarovar Pilgrims], NDTV, 29 June 2023.</ref> The Lipulekh pass is near the trading town of Taklakot ([[Burang Town|Purang]]) in [[Tibet]] and used since ancient times by traders, mendicants and pilgrims transiting between India and Tibet. It is also used by pilgrims to Kailas and [[Manasarovar]]. It is reached by the ''[[Gunji, Uttarakhand#NH|Pithoragagh-Lipulekh Pass Highway]] (PLPH)'', and a spur from [[Nabhidhang]] (Nabidhang) runs along a glaciated river to [[Om Parvat]]. The Mount Kailash in Tibet can be viewed from India from the ''Old Lipulekh Peak'' (via NH-9 motorable till the pass) which lies northeast of [[Gunji, Uttarakhand|Gunji]] and the [[Limpiyadhura Pass]]<!--NOTE: Retain RED LINK encourage article creation.--> (via [[Kuthi Valley]]) which lies northwest of Gunji.<ref name=Nd1>[https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/how-uttarakhand-is-providing-closer-darshan-to-kailash-mansarovar-pilgrims-4161928 How Uttarakhand Is Providing "Closer Darshan" To Kailash-Mansarovar Pilgrims], NDTV, 29 June 2023.</ref> The [[Sharda River|Kali River]] (Sharda River) rises from the Limpiyadhura northeast of Gunji and flows by the [[KMVN Huts]]<!--NOTE: Retain RED LINK to encourage article creation.--> (Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam resort) at Nabhidhang (a fork route from Nabhidhang goes southeast along the glaciated rivulet to Om Parvat), [[ITBP]] Base Camp, [[Indian Forest Service|Indian Forest Police]] Checkpost to Gunji.
 ==Tourism==
 This pass links the [[Pithoragarh district]] India with the [[Tibet Autonomous Region]] of [[People's Republic of China|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 [[Burang Town|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" ({{coord|30.2488|81.0237|name=Old Lipulekh Pass}}), from where [[Mount Kailash]] can be seen.<ref name="NDTV Jun 2023">[https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/how-uttarakhand-is-providing-closer-darshan-to-kailash-mansarovar-pilgrims-4161928 How Uttarakhand Is Providing "Closer Darshan" To Kailash-Mansarovar Pilgrims], NDTV News, 29 June 2023.</ref>
+== Transportation ==
+The Lipulekh Pass is reached from the Indian side via the [[Gunji, Uttarakhand#NH|Pithoragarh-Lipulekh Pass Highway]] (PLPH).<ref name="NDTV Jun 2023"/>
+== Nepalese claims ==
+[[File:1879-Survey-of-India-Kalapani-territory.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|An 1879 Survey of India map showing the Kalapani territory as part of Kumaon, India]]
+{{Main|Kalapani territory}}
+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 (Uttarakhand)|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.<ref>[https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/main-article/india-nepal-and-the-kalapani-issue-777804.html India, Nepal and the Kalapani issue], Decan Herald, 19 November 2019.</ref>
+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.<ref name="District Almora map">
+{{citation |first1=Mangal Siddhi |last1=Manandhar |first2=Hriday Lal |last2=Koirala |title=Nepal-India Boundary Issue: River Kali as International Boundary |journal=Tribhuvan University Journal |volume=23 |number=1 |date=June 2001 |url=https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/TUJ/article/view/4550/3782 |pages=3–4 |quote=The map 'District Almora' published by the Survey of India [during 1865–1869] 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.}}
+</ref> This is consistent with the British position that the Kali River begins only from the Kalapani springs,<ref name="Almora British territory">
+{{citation |first=Edwin Thomas |last=Atkinson |title=The Himalayan Gazetteer, Volume 3, Part 2 |publisher=Cosmo Publications |year=1981 |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.15260/page/n5 |via=archive.org |orig-year=first published 1884 |pages=381–382}}: "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)
+</ref> which meant that the agreement of Sugauli did not apply to the region above the springs.<ref>
+{{citation |first=Alok Kumar |last=Gupta |title=The Context of New-Nepal: Challenges and Opportunities for India |journal=Indian Journal of Asian Affairs |volume=22 |number=1/2 |date=2009 |pages=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.&nbsp;63); See also [http://www.ipcs.org/comm_select.php?articleNo=422 Kalapani: A Bone of Contention Between India and Nepal], Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, 2000
+</ref>
+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.<ref name=myrepublica>
+{{citation |title= Resolve Lipu-Lekh Pass dispute: House panel to govt |newspaper=Republica |date=28 June 2018 |url=http://admin.myrepublica.com/politics/story/22453/resolve-lipu-lekh-pass-dispute-house-panel-to-govt.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628044315/http://admin.myrepublica.com/politics/story/22453/resolve-lipu-lekh-pass-dispute-house-panel-to-govt.html |archive-date=28 June 2018}}
+</ref><ref name=kathmandupost>
+[https://kathmandupost.com/miscellaneous/2015/07/09/lipulekh-dispute-ucpn-m-writes-to-pm-koirala-indian-pm-modi-chinese-prez-xi Lipulekh dispute: UCPN (M) writes to PM Koirala, Indian PM Modi & Chinese Prez Xi], The Kathmandu Post, 9 July 2015.
+</ref> The Nepalese parliament stated that 'it violates Nepal's sovereign rights over the disputed territory'.<ref>[http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/nepal-objects-to-india-china-trade-pact-via-lipu-lekh-pass/articleshow/47604908.cms Nepal objects to India-China trade pact via Lipu-Lekh Pass], The Economic Times, 9 June 2015.</ref>
 == See also ==
@@ Line 185: / Line 209: @@
 *[[Shipki La]]
 *[[Pithoragarh district]]
+*[[Dharchula]]
 ==References==
-{{Reflist}}
+{{Reflist|30em}}
 == Bibliography ==
@@ Line 204: / Line 229: @@
 [[Category:Mountain passes of the Himalayas]]
 [[Category:Territorial disputes of India]]
+[[Category:Territorial disputes of Nepal]]