Nepal's India-China issue

In May, Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited the colonial-era Treaty of Sugauli and said Lipulekh falls within its sovereignty. The agreement was between the British government in India and Gurkha chiefs that ended the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814-16).

India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) responded on May 3, saying, the “Lipulekh Pass has been a long-standing route for the Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra since 1954 and the yatra (journey) through this route has been going on for decades.” 

The MEA said Nepal’s claims are neither justified nor based on historical facts and evidence. “Such unilateral artificial enlargement of territorial claims is untenable.”

Ranjit Rae, who was India’s ambassador to Nepal from 2013-17 (during the period a crisis hit India-Nepal relations in 2015-16), said the Nepalese claim is baseless. 

“For more than 200 years, this was never raised. It was first raised two years ago. This claim of a unilateral increase in territory is not based on evidence. The Nepali government has not provided any evidence,” Rae said, adding that Lipulekh could become a recurring issue.  

China and India have engaged in border trade and pilgrimages through Nepal for years. Nepal has historically used the trade route through India to Tibet. 

The Nepalese government has made Lipulekh an issue because it has domestic political obligations, owing to the constitutional amendment, “there’s nothing more to it”, Rae said.

In March, Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) came to power with a majority by protesting corruption and income disparity in the country. 

The only border dispute Nepal has with India that India has agreed to talk about with Nepal, “is limited to Kalapani”, Rae said of the Kali River valley. 

India is open to a constructive interaction with Nepal on all issues in the bilateral relationship, including on resolving agreed outstanding boundary issues through dialogue and diplomacy, the MEA said earlier.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not make any public statement, and there was no sign that the pilgrimage route agreed upon with India in 2015 would change. Kailash is among the holiest sites in Hinduism and Buddhism. China allows circumambulation of the mountain, but treks are barred. 

With India-China relations improving in recent times, the pilgrimage is set to resume, from June to August, with some people travelling through Lipulekh and the others through the Nathu La Pass (4,000 metres in height) in Sikkim, India.

Last year, during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s India visit, the two countries agreed to reopen Lipulekh for border trade. The now-ruling RSP in Nepal objected then. Nepal has previously protested India and China making bilateral arrangements through Lipulekh, in 2015 and 2020, according to the Nepalese media, which said former Nepalese prime minister K P Oli spoke about it to Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin in 2025. Oli was considered close to China, according to Indian foreign policy analysts.  Today, it is unclear how Nepal will balance its relations with India and China.

“I don’t know how Nepal would like to maintain its relations with China, but with India, Nepal’s relations will continue. The Indian and the Nepalese governments have said it,” Rae said. 

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s two-day visit to Nepal, scheduled for May 11-12, was deferred last month, without a new date.