Jaishankar says Sino-India border trade revived through Shipki-La pass in HP
By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said that Himachal Pradesh is set to witness revival of cross-border trade as both India and China have agreed to re-open the routes through Shipki-La Pass in the Kinnaur district.
They have also agreed to continue and further expand the scale of the Indian pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, Gang Renpoche and Lake Manasarovar from 2026, media reported.
According to MEA the State has taken a significant step towards expanding pilgrimage and tourism opportunities with the Union government’s approval to open the Shipki-La route for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.
The pass will also serve as an additional route for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, offering immense opportunities for tourism, cultural exchange, and local economic development with boosting traditional trade.
Indian government spokesperson said here that the Himachal government had been making efforts to resume trade with China through Shipki-La (Kinnaur).
Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi, who was on a visit to India, held a meeting with Union External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar to discuss various bilateral issues.
He informed that during this meeting, both the ministers agreed in principle to the proposal of resuming trade between the two nations.
“This breakthrough was made possible due to the personal intervention of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who had written to the Union government urging revival of the historic Indo-Tibetan trade route. Acting on this, the union government formally took up the matter with China, leading to a consensus to restart the trade,” he asserted.
The state government would take this matter with the union commerce ministry for completing the codal formalities, he said.
Jaishankar has informed the state government that the government of India initiated discussions with China for the resumption of border trade through all three designated points-Shipki-La (Himachal Pradesh), Lipulekh (Uttarakhand) and Nathu La (Sikkim), which had been suspended since 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he disclosed.
Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had emphasized that Shipki-La, once an offshoot of the legendary Silk Route and formalized as a border trade point under the Indo-China bilateral agreement of 1994, played a vital role in trans-Himalayan economic and cultural exchanges.
“In addition to trade, the state government has received a positive response regarding the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra (KMY) through Shipki-La,” he said.
He highlighted that the Shipki-La route, connecting via Gartok towards Darchen and Mansarovar is comparatively shorter on the Tibetan side.
State minister added that Himachal Pradesh has road connectivity up to Shipki-La via Rampur Bushahr and Pooh, making it feasible to develop the necessary base camps and supporting infrastructure for the Yatra.
EAM in a letter to the chief minister, conveyed that after a five-year gap, the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra has resumed through Lipulekh Pass (Uttarakhand) and Nathu La Pass (Sikkim), and now Shipki-La would be added as an additional route.
State minister has expressed gratitude to the union government for prioritizing these key concerns of the State in bilateral dialogues with China.
