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Lipulekh Pass
High mountain pass connecting and India with Tibet, China From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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 from the British colonial period.[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.
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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" (30.2488°N 81.0237°E), from where Mount Kailash can be seen.[5]
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Transportation
The Lipulekh Pass is reached from the Indian side via the Pithoragarh-Lipulekh Pass Highway (PLPH).[5]
Nepalese claims
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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]
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