(TibetanReview.net, Jul20’26) – It was previously announced that the ancient trade route between Tibet and India through the latter’s Lipulekh Pass crossing in Uttarakhand state’s Pithoragarh district will reopen after a gap of six years in the first week of June this year. However, when a group of 28 traders cleared by India finally visited Gunji, the last village on the Indian side, with a view to proceed to Taklakot in Purang county of Tibet on Jul 11, they were turned back by the Chinese authorities. The traders have alleged that Nepali traders were, however, being let in and allowed to trade.
The Lipulekh crossing was closed, most recently, since 2020 in the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic and then the Galwan Valley conflict.
The traders have been forced to leave at Gunji their merchandise of nearly 3,000 quintals of jaggery and sugar candy, exposed to rain and moisture, reported freepressjournal.in Jul 17.
The 28 traders were stated to be part of a larger group of 100 traders and assistants who had been issued official passes by the Pithoragarh district administration to resume trade in Tibet. They were previously scheduled to leave on Jul 8, but the planned final approval from the Chinese side never arrived, the report said.
Following the setback, the Dharchula Sub-Divisional Magistrate Ashish Joshi has said the administration had requested the Chinese authorities to allow Indian traders to visit Tibet without carrying goods so they can inspect the arrangements at the trading point.
However, there is still no clarity on when permission would come while the traders remained concerned about their perishable merchandise lying at Gunji.
The prolonged wait has also fuelled disappointment among traders because Nepalese merchants have reportedly been allowed to continue trading at the Purang market, while Indian traders remain in limbo, the report said.
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The Lipulekh Pass, located near the India-Nepal-Tibet tri-junction, is one of the oldest Himalayan trade routes. For centuries, it has served as a seasonal trading corridor between Indian border communities and Tibet. The strategically important pass is also one of the routes used for the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra, the report noted.
Trade through Lipulekh was first suspended after the 1962 India-China war before resuming through Taklakot in 1992. The route was halted again in 2019 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and despite renewed efforts this year, its revival remains uncertain, the report said.
In 2019, the last year the trade was operational, commerce through Lipulekh was valued at nearly Rs 30 million. Exports stood at about Rs 12.5 million, while imports were around Rs 19 million, the report said.
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Meanwhile, in Nepal, the District Administration Office in Bajhang has started issuing China entry permits, valid for one year, to locals travelling to Taklakot in Tibet through the Urai Bhanjyang border crossing, with 57 residents obtaining the documents since mid-May, reported kathmandupost.com Jul 17, citing officials.
The permits were stated to have been issued after Purang County in neighbouring Tibet agreed to allow group entry for Bajhang residents seeking to trade local products.
“Officials in Tibet have told us not to send individuals or small groups as we did in the past. They want traders to enter in larger, organised groups,” Man Bahadur Bohara, chairman of Saipal Rural Municipality, has said. “We are helping residents coordinate their travel so that no one faces difficulties while crossing the border alone.”
Like the Pithoragarh residents in India, the Residents of Nepal’s Bajhang have maintained centuries-old trade links with Taklakot through the Urai pass. Traders traditionally travel there to sell Himalayan herbs, timber, agricultural produce and livestock products, the report said.
But Nepal’s border residents too have their grievances. Local herders have become increasingly concerned about taking their livestock across the border. Chinese security personnel have restricted the traditional practice of grazing sheep, mountain goats and yaks in Tibetan pastures during the monsoon, with some herders alleging harassment, the report said.
Also, Before the Covid-19 pandemic, large numbers of Bajhang residents travelled through the route during July and August to visit Lake Manasarovar, bathe in its waters and bring back holy water for religious rituals. But China’s new restrictions on access to the Manasarovar area after the pandemic have halted the long-standing practice for seven years, the report said. And this restrictions is not likely to change because the report quoted an official from the Foreign Affairs Office under Purang County’s Border Construction and Development Bureau as saying, “The border treaty only allows entry up to 30 kilometres into the other country’s territory. Manasarovar is located much farther than that.”