Lipulekh Pass

{{Short description|High mountain pass connecting India with Tibet, China}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}} {{Use Indian English|date=June 2017}} {{Infobox mountain pass | name = Lipu-Lekh Pass | photo = | photo_caption = | 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 Uttarakhand, India and Tibet, China<ref name="LingAbdenur2016"/> | range = Himalayas | coordinates = {{coord|30.2329|81.0285|type:pass|format=dms |display=title,inline}} | map_relief = 0 | topo = }} {{Infobox Chinese | order = st | s = 里普列克山口 | t = 里普列克山口 | p = Lǐ pǔ liè kè shānkǒu }} {{OSM Location map | coord = {{coord|30.23|81.02}}  | float = right | zoom = 10 | width = 285 | height = 275 | caption = The vicinity of the Lipulekh Pass | nolabels = 1 | map-data = Q1499  | mark-coord1 = {{coord|30.2328|81.0284}} | mark1 = Mountain pass 12x12 e.svg | mark-size1 = 12 | label1 = Lipulekh |labela1 = Pass | label-size1 = 10 | label-color1 = hard red | label-pos1 = right | label-offset-x1 = 0 | label-offset-y1 = -5 | mark-title1 = Lipulekh Pass | mark-description1 = Point on China–India border  | mark-coord2 = {{coord|30.2234|80.9123}} | mark2 = Red pog.svg | mark-size2 = 6 | label2 = Kalapani |labela2 = village | label-size2 = 10 | label-color2 = hard red | label-pos2 = top |label-offset-x2 = -8 |label-offset-y2 = 0 | mark-title2 = Kalapani village | mark-description2 =  | mark-coord3 = {{coord|30.2962|81.1748}} | mark3 = Red pog.svg | mark-size3 = 6 | label3 = Burang | label-size3 = 10 | label-color3 = hard red | label-pos3 = left |label-offset-x3 = 0 |label-offset-y3 = 0 | mark-title3 = Burang | mark-description3 = Tibetan town  | mark-coord4 = {{coord|30.1860407|80.8515430}} | mark4 = Red pog.svg | mark-size4 = 6 | label4 = Gunji | label-size4 = 10 | label-color4 = hard red | label-pos4 = right |label-offset-x4 = 0 |label-offset-y4 = 0 | mark-title4 = Gunji | mark-description4 =  | mark-coord5 = {{coord|30.1795|80.9417}} | mark5 = Blue Fire.svg | mark-size5 = 12 | label5 = P. 6172 | label-size5 = 10 | label-color5 = hard blue | label-pos5 = bottom |label-offset-x5 = -4 |label-offset-y5 = 0 | mark-title5 = P. 6172 | mark-description5 =  | mark-coord6 = {{coord|30.1969443|81.0327243}} | mark6 = Blue Fire.svg | mark-size6 = 12 | label6 = Om Parvat | label-size6 = 10 | label-color6 = hard blue | label-pos6 = bottom |label-offset-x6 = -24 |label-offset-y6 = 0 | mark-title6 = Om Parvat | mark-description6 = Peak on India–Nepal border  | mark-coord7 = {{coord|30.1941715|81.0397054}} | mark7 = Mountain pass 12x12 ne.svg | mark-size7 = 12 | label7 = Tinkar |labela7 = Pass | label-size7 = 10 | label-color7 = hard red | label-pos7 = right |label-offset-x7 = 0 |label-offset-y7 = -5 | mark-title7 = Tinkar Pass | mark-description7 = Mountain pass on China–Nepal border  | mark-coord8 = {{coord|30.1295|80.8834}} | mark8 = Red pog.svg | mark-size8 = 6 | label8 = Changru | label-size8 = 10 | label-color8 = hard red | label-pos8 = top |label-offset-x8 = 15 |label-offset-y8 = 0 | mark-title8 = Changru | mark-description8 =  | mark-coord9 = {{coord|30.1355|80.9848}} | mark9 = Red pog.svg | mark-size9 = 6 | label9 = Tinkar | label-size9 = 10 | label-color9 = hard red | label-pos9 = top |label-offset-x9 = -4 |label-offset-y9 = 0 | mark-title9 = Tinkar | mark-description9 =   | mark-coord10 = {{coord|30.23565|80.94821}}  | mark10 = AS-rzeka-icon.svg | mark-size10 = 11 | label10 = Kalapani |labela10 = River | label-size10 = 10 | label-color10 = hard blue | label-pos10 = bottom |label-offset-x10 = 10 |label-offset-y10 = 0 | mark-title10 = Kalapani River | mark-description10= Also called Lipu Gad, headwater of Kali  | mark-coord12 = {{coord|30.14814|81.01722}} | mark12 = AS-rzeka-icon.svg | mark-size12 = 11 | label12 = Tinkar |labela12 = Khola | label-size12 = 10 | label-color12 = hard blue | label-pos12 = right |label-offset-x12 = 0 |label-offset-y12 = 0 | mark-title12 = Tinkar Khola | mark-description12 = Tributary of Kali in Nepal   | mark-coord20 = {{coord|30.26|80.68}} | mark20 = red pog.svg | mark-size20 = 0 | label20 = KUMAON |labela20 = (INDIA) | label-size20 = 14 | label-color20 = dark grey | label-pos20 = top |label-offset-x20 = 0 |label-offset-y20 = 0 | mark-title20 = Kumaon | mark-description20 = Part of Uttarakhand  | mark-coord21 = {{coord|30.09|80.95}} | mark21 = red pog.svg | mark-size21 = 0 | label21 = NEPAL | label-size21 = 14 | label-color21 = dark grey | label-pos21 = top |label-offset-x21 = 0 |label-offset-y21 = 0 | mark-title21 = Nepal | mark-description21 =  | mark-coord22 = {{coord|30.30|81.0}} | mark22 = red pog.svg | mark-size22 = 0 | label22 = TIBET |labela22 = (CHINA) | label-size22 = 14 | label-color22 = dark grey | label-pos22 = top |label-offset-x22 = 0 |label-offset-y22 = 0 | mark-title22 = Tibet | mark-description22 = Autonomous region of China }} The '''Lipulekh Pass''' or '''Qiang La''' ({{lang-zh|c=强拉山口|p=qiáng lā shānkǒu}}) is a Himalayan pass on the border between Uttarakhand, India and the 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 from the British colonial period.<ref name=myrepublica/><ref name=kathmandupost/> 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.

== History == {{further|Bhotiyas of Uttarakhand|Kalapani territory}} thumb|285px|upright=1.3|An 1879 Survey of India map showing the Kalapani territory as part of Kumaon, India thumb|285px|Mount Kailas and Manasarovar from the south

The Lipulekh Pass was one of the passes historically used for Indo-Tibetan border trade by the Bhotiyas of Kumaon. Each of the Bhotiya valleys lying along the border, Gori, Darma, Chaudans and Byans, had its own passes to Tibet. Of these, Chaudansis (in the Kali River valley) and Byansis (in the Kuthi and Tinkar valleys) used the Lipulekh pass.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bergmann |first1=Christoph |title=Confluent territories and overlapping sovereignties: Britain's nineteenth-century Indian empire in the Kumaon Himalaya |journal=Journal of Historical Geography |volume=51 |year=2016 |pages=88–98 |issn=0305-7488 |doi=10.1016/j.jhg.2015.06.015 |ref={{sfnref|Bergmann, Confluent territories and overlapping sovereignties|2016}}|doi-access=free }}</ref> Lipulekh was considered the most "famous" among the passes because it is closest to the Tibetan trading centre Purang, and it also leads directly to Mount Kailash, a pilgrimage destination for Hindus and Buddhists.<ref>{{citation |first=Bishwa B. |last=Chatterjee |title=The Bhotias of Uttarakhand |journal=India International Centre Quarterly |volume=3 |number=1 |date=January 1976 |pp=3–16 |JSTOR=23001864 |ref={{sfnref|Chatterjee, The Bhotias of Uttarakhand|1976}}}}</ref>

In 1791, the Nepalese Gorkha kingdom conquered Kumaon and took possession of the entire region. Border tensions with British colonial regime led to the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–1816). The British evicted the Nepalese from Kumaon and set the Kali River as the border between Kumaon and Nepal, later confirmed in the Treaty of Sugauli.

However, what was meant by "Kali River" in the upper reaches of the Himalayas became a matter of dispute. Initially, the British retained the Kuthi Valley in the west, the Tinkar Valley in the east, as well as the Kalapani valley leading to the Lipulekh pass, as part of Kumaon. These three valleys carry three head streams to Kali River and are populated by Byansis. Following Nepalese objections, the British Governor-General made enquiries with the local populations as well as the British surveyor (W. J. Webb, who surveyed the area) and decided that the Kalapani valley carried the main Kali River. Accordingly, the Tinkar Valley in the east was ceded to Nepal.{{sfnp|Atkinson, Himalayan Gazetteer, Vol. 2, Part 2|1981|pp=679–680}}<ref>{{citation |last=Hoon |first=Vineeta |title=Living on the Move: Bhotiyas of the Kumaon Himalaya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yjFuAAAAMAAJ |year=1996 |publisher=Sage Publications |isbn=978-0-8039-9325-9 |page=76}}: "The British settled this dispute by stating that the name Kaliganga is derived from the sacred waters of Kalapani. Therefore, Kalapani is the source and the [Kuthi Yankti] is only a tributary feeder. By doing this, Gunji and Nabi were annexed to the British territory. Tinker and Changru are the only Vyas villages that belong to Nepal since they undisputedly lie to the east of the River Kaliganga."</ref><ref> Letter of the Government of India to Commissioner of Kumaon, September 5, 1817. Included in Rakesh Sood, [https://rakeshsood.in/tag/india-nepal/ A Reset in India–Nepal Relations], blog post at rakeshsood.in with attachments for an article published in ''The Hindu'', 29 May 2020. "Governor General entirely approves your having declined to transfer to the Chountra Bum Sah the two villages of Koontee [Kuthi] and Nabee [Nabi] in Pergunah Byanse without the specific orders of the Government on the ground of ''their being situated to the west of the stream ordinarily recognized as the principal branch of the Kali in that quarter''." (emphasis added) </ref><ref>{{citation |last1=Dhungel |first1=Dwarika Nath |last2=Pun |first2=Santa Bahadur |title=Nepal-India Relations: Territorial/Border Issue with Specific Reference to Mahakali River |journal=FPRC Journal |publisher=Foreign Policy Research Centre |location=New Delhi |year=2014 |url=https://www.academia.edu/12827172 |via=academia.edu |page=5 |quote=The correspondence [on 8 March 1817] appears to indicate that, while the Zamindars resided on the west side of Kali in British India [in the Kuthi valley], their tenants lived on the east of the Kali River in Nepal.}}</ref>

This arrangement would have made the Lipulekh Pass the trijunction between Kumaon, Nepal and Tibet. However, a further adjustment was made around 1865, when the British shifted the border near Lipulekh to the ''watershed'' of the Kalapani stream{{efn|The stream originates at the Lipulekh Pass and is also called Lipu Gad or Lipu Khola. At Kalapani, there is a small spring which was traditionally considered by the locals as the source of the Kalapani stream and the Kali River.}} instead of the stream itself.<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 made a 35 square kilometre area to the east of Kalapani valley, now known as the Kalapani territory, part of British India. The trijunction between Kumaon, Nepal and Tibet shifted to the vicinity of Tinkar Pass and the Lipulekh Pass became an interior point of British India.<ref name="Almora British territory"> {{harvp|Atkinson, Himalayan Gazetteer, Vol. 3, Part 2|1981|pp=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> There are no extant documents regarding any communications on the issue. However, around the same time that the British claimed the Kalapani territory, they had also ceded to Nepal the western Tarai regions, which were later named "Naya Muluk" ("New Lands") by Nepal. The addition of these regions was of significant economic benefit to Nepal.<ref>{{harvp|Whelpton, A History of Nepal|2005}} * pp. 46–47: "In return, the British restored to Nepal the western Tarai, taken in 1816, and conferred an honorary knighthood on Jang [Bahadur Rana] himself." * pp. 54–55: "... the Ranas secured a steady rise in state revenue, which rose from around 1.4 million rupees in 1850 to perhaps 12 million in 1900, a substantial rise even allowing for inflation. ... Particularly important was the return to Nepal in 1860 of the western Tarai districts, which were initially very sparsely populated."</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Ethnicity and National Unification: The Madheshis of Nepal (Sectional President's Address) |first=Ratneshwar |last=Mishra |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=67 |year=2007 |jstor=44148000 |page=809}}: "The eastern Rapti river was returned to Nepal in 1817, and, in 1861, the Western tarai was also returned as recognition of Nepalese assistance in quelling the Indian rebellion of 1857.[62] It is thus that Janakpur and Kapilvastu of hallowed memory are in Nepal and not in India."</ref>

The border adjustment made little difference on the ground because a free movement regime operated between Nepal and India, and the Byansis of Tinkar Valley continued to use the Lipulekh Pass. (It has been reported that they were unable to use the Tinkar Pass because of low volume of traffic.)<ref name=snow>{{harvp|Strachey, Narrative of a Journey to Cho Lagan etc.|1848}}: "We met a smiling rosy-faced ''Tinker'' [resident of Tinkar] on the top of Nirpaniah, who ... informed me that his pass is not so easy as Lipu Lekh, and the snow on it more troublesome, because his village has but 5 or 6 ''Man'' (families) whose small traffic is insufficient to make a good beaten path."</ref> It was only after India restricted the Tinkaris from using Lipulekh Pass after the 1960s that a dispute began to surface.

In 1954, India signed a border trade agreement with China, in which Lipulekh Pass was mentioned as one of the passes that could be used for Indo-Tibetan trade and pilgrimage traffic.{{sfnp|Cowan, The Indian checkposts, Lipu Lekh and Kalapani|2015|p=11}}<ref>Nihar R. Nayak, [https://idsa.in/idsacomments/ControversyoverLipu-LekhPass_nnayak_080615 Controversy over Lipu-Lekh Pass: Is Nepal’s Stance Politically Motivated?], IDSA Comment, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, 9 June 2015: "In effect, Lipu-Lekh has been a recognized trading and pilgrim route between China and India since 1954."</ref> A State Police post was established at Kalapani in 1956.{{sfnp|Gupta, The Context of New-Nepal|2009}} In 1961, Nepal signed a border agreement with China, which recognised the trijunction between the three countries being near Tinkar Pass, and a border pillar numbered 1 was placed there.{{sfnp|Cowan, The Indian checkposts, Lipu Lekh and Kalapani|2015|pp=16–17}}

After the 1962 Sino-Indian War, India closed the Lipulekh Pass. The Byansis of Kumaon then used the Tinkar Pass for all their trade with Tibet.<ref name="Shrader Lipu Tinkar">{{citation |first=Heiko |last=Schrader |title=Trading Patterns in the Nepal Himalayas |publisher=Bow Historical Books |year=1988 |isbn=9783881564052 |page=99 |quote=Lipu La, however, was closed in 1962, due to the strained Sino-Indian relations. Today remaining trade moves via Tinkar La.}}</ref> In 1979, the Kalapani post was manned by Indo-Tibetan Border Police.{{sfnp|Gupta, The Context of New-Nepal|2009}}

In 1991, India and China agreed to reopen the Lipulekh pass, and the trade through it steadily increased.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kurian |first1=Nimmi |title=Prospects for Sino-Indian Trans-border Economic Linkages |journal=International Studies |volume=42 |issue=3–4 |year=2016 |page=299 |issn=0020-8817 |doi=10.1177/002088170504200307|s2cid=154449847 }}: "India and China opened their first border trade route way back in 1991 between Dharachula in Uttaranchal and Pulan [Purang] in Tibet through the Lipulekh Pass."</ref><ref>{{citation |last1=Ling |first1=L.H.M. |last2=Lama |first2=Mahendra P |title=India China: Rethinking Borders and Security |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IIsxDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA50 |year=2016 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-13006-1 |pages=49–50}}: "The governments of India and China agreed to establish border trade at Pulan in the TAR and Gunji in the Pithoragarh District in the state of Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand) of India. Border trade would take place during mutually agreed times each year. Lipulekh Pass (Qiang La) would facilitate visits by persons engaged in border trade and their exchange of commodities... Trade along Lipulekh has steadily increased from Rs. 0.4 million ($6,000) in 1992—93 to Rupees Rs. 6.9 million ($100,000) three years later."</ref><ref>{{citation |title=India-China Relations in the Context of Vajpayee's 2003 Visit |first=Surjit |last=Mansingh |publisher=The Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University |year=2005 |url=https://www2.gwu.edu/~sigur/assets/docs/scap/SCAP21-Mansingh.pdf}}: "Though border trade along these routes is statistically insignificant, it makes a huge difference to the lives of people living in the Himalayan region... when I traversed Lipulekh Pass... I asked a villager... where the money for all this construction activity came from. He answered with a broad grin ''Tibet khul gaya'' (Tibet has been opened)."</ref>

==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 Peak" ({{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>

==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.<ref name=ti1>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Indian-soldiers-prevent-Chinese-troops-from-constructing-road-in-Arunachal/articleshow/44953671.cms|title=Indian soldiers prevent Chinese troops from constructing road in Arunachal|date=Oct 28, 2014|access-date=Nov 11, 2017|newspaper=The Times of India}}</ref>

== Nepalese claims == {{Main|Kalapani territory}}

The Nepalese claims to the southern side of the pass, called Kalapani territory, are based on 1816 Sugauli 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.<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" /> This is consistent with the British position that the Kali River begins only from the Kalapani springs,<ref name="Almora British territory"/> which meant that the agreement of Sugauli did not apply to the region above the springs.<ref> {{harvp|Gupta, The Context of New-Nepal|2009}}: "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 [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> Nepal now intends to resolve the issue via diplomatic means with India.<ref name="tele">{{cite news |title=Post-J&K map ache spreads to Nepal |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/post-j-k-map-ache-spreads-to-nepal/cid/1717705 |access-date=15 November 2019 |publisher=Telegraph India |date=8 November 2019}}</ref>

== See also == *Nathu La *Shipki La *Pithoragarh district *Dharchula

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography == * {{citation |first=Edwin Thomas |last=Atkinson |title=The Himalayan Gazetteer, Volume 2, Part 2 |publisher=Cosmo Publications |year=1981 |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.18114/page/n205 |via=archive.org |orig-year=first published 1884 |ref={{sfnref|Atkinson, Himalayan Gazetteer, Vol. 2, Part 2|1981}}}} * {{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 |ref={{sfnref|Atkinson, Himalayan Gazetteer, Vol. 3, Part 2|1981}}}} * {{citation |first=Sam |last=Cowan |author-link=Samuel Cowan |title=The Indian checkposts, Lipu Lekh, and Kalapani |publisher=School of Oriental and African Studies |date=2015 |url=https://digital.soas.ac.uk/SWAY000513/00001 |ref={{sfnref|Cowan, The Indian checkposts, Lipu Lekh and Kalapani|2015}}}} * {{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 |pages=57–73 |number=1/2 |date=June–December 2009 |jstor=41950496 |orig-year=2000 |ref={{sfnref|Gupta, The Context of New-Nepal|2009}}}}. [http://www.ipcs.org/comm_select.php?articleNo=422 IPCS preprint] * {{citation |first=Lieut. H. |last=Strachey |title=Narration of a Journey to Cho Lagan, (Rakas Tal), Cho Mapan (Manasarowar), and the valley of Pruang in Gnari, Hundes, in September and October 1846 |editor=James Prinsep |journal=The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal |volume=17 |url=https://archive.org/details/journalofasiatic172asia |date=September 1848 |pages=98–120, 127–182, 327–351 |ref={{sfnref|Strachey, Narrative of a Journey to Cho Lagan etc.|1848}}}} * {{citation |editor-first=H. G. |editor-last=Walton |title=Almora: A Gazetteer |series=District Gazetteers of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh |volume=35 |publisher=Government Press, United Provinces |year=1911 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.181493/page/n3 |via=archive.org |ref={{sfnref|Walton, Almora District Gazetteer|1911}}}} * {{citation |last=Whelpton |first=John |title=A History of Nepal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KoNT6tjk9mQC |year=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-80470-7 |ref={{sfnref|Whelpton, A History of Nepal|2005}}}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20180628124729/https://www.panoramio.com/user/1734505?with_photo_id=23464252 Photographs of the Lipulekh Pass] * [https://depthgrid.blogspot.com/2026/06/india-vs-nepal-lipulekh-pass-dispute.html India vs Nepal: The Lipulekh Pass Dispute Reshaping Himalayan Geopolitics]

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