(TibetanReview.net, Jul12’26) – Pro-China elements among Nepal’s political leaders have shown an alacrity to jump at any opportunity to defend perceived damage to Beijing’s interest in the country. However, they seem to show little or no interest on longstanding allegations of Chinese transgressions on Nepali interests, whether it is border incursions or ill-treatment of the country’s citizens living close to occupied Tibet’s border.
An eight-day patrol to the Nepal-Tibet border found growing dissatisfaction among border residents over Chinese restrictions on grazing, cross-border trade and pilgrimages to Lake Mansarovar, reported kathmandupost.com Jul 11.
The patrol was stated to be part of routine border surveillance aimed at curbing illegal activities and strengthening the security presence in the remote northern region of Urai Bhanjyang (Urai Pass). Historically, it served as a bustling hub for the exchange of salt, wool, and grain, and local traders from Bajhang frequently connect to the Tibetan market of Taklakot in western Tibet’s Purang County.
During the security team’s patrol, the local residents were stated to have told the personnel that restrictions imposed by Chinese authorities had disrupted traditional grazing, cross-border trade and religious practices.
APF (Armed Police Force) Bajhang chief DSP Ujjwal Lamichhane, who led a team of nine, with 20 Nepali Army personnel led by Captain Nirmal Kumar Khadka, has said local residents complained that tighter controls at the Urai Bhanjyang border crossing had prevented them from using a route traditionally used for the Bhot-Aul trade, seasonal grazing and pilgrimages.
“Locals said they have been unable to perform their ancestral deity worship because they cannot collect sacred water from Lake Mansarovar,” Lamichhane has said. “We are working to facilitate a meeting with our counterparts across the border to discuss these concerns.”
Since China restricted access to Lake Mansarovar in Tibet after the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, residents of Bajhang have been unable to carry out clan rituals that require water from the lake.
Herders have also said they have stopped taking sheep, goats and chauris (yak-cattle hybrids) into Tibetan pastures during the monsoon after repeated restrictions and mistreatment by Chinese security personnel.
Mukesh Kumar Keshari, chief district officer of Bajhang, has said the district administration had repeatedly raised concerns with Chinese border authorities but was yet to secure a resolution.
Keshari has pointed out, “Bilateral agreements between Nepal and China recognise the rights of border residents to continue traditional activities, including pilgrimages and grazing.” But “the lack of regular bilateral dialogue has created serious difficulties for people living in this district.”
Talks were stated to be ongoing for the restoration of the centuries-old traditional border trade, grazing and pilgrimage access, which were fully open when Tibet was free.