Nepal presses Lipulekh Pass claim in talks with China

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Saturday conveyed Nepal’s reservations over the India-China agreement to open a trade route through the Lipulekh Pass during his bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in China's Tianjin. This comes after a recent agreement between India and China to reopen the trade route via Lipulekh Pass, which Nepal claims.

The Nepal prime minister, who is visiting China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025, expressed Nepal’s opposition to the China-India deal via the Lipulek Pass, which Kathmandu says is “an inseparable part of sovereign Nepal”.

“Referring to the recent understanding reached between India and China on border trade through Lipu Lekh Pass, Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli raised the issue directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping,” the Embassy of Nepal in Beijing said in a statement.

PM Oli stated that the territory of Lipulekh belongs to Nepal, and the Government of Nepal has officially registered strong objections against the India–China agreement on trade through this pass.

Lipulekh Pass is a high-altitude Himalayan pass, strategically important, lying at the tri-junction of Nepal, India, and China.

Earlier this month, India rejected Nepal’s opposition to the agreement, calling Kathmandu’s territorial claims “unjustified, untenable, and not supported by historical facts.”

By raising the matter directly with President Xi during a high-profile bilateral, Nepal reaffirmed its sovereignty claim and signalled that it does not accept bilateral India-China deals involving its claimed territory.

During the meeting, the Nepal PM expressed hope for faster implementation of already agreed projects, including those under the BRI, and sought support in areas such as fertiliser, petroleum exploration, human resource development, climate resilience, and people-to-people ties.

He stated that Nepal-China ties, rooted in the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, have been trouble-free.

Prime Minister Oli extended his best wishes for the success of the SCO Summit 2025 and requested the President of China to support Nepal’s membership aspiration in the SCO.

President Xi Jinping affirmed China’s readiness to support Nepal in realizing its vision of Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali. He noted that China will continue to work with Nepal in multilateral platforms such as the UN and SCO.

Thanking Nepal for its steadfast adherence to the One-China Principle, he reiterated China’s commitment to Nepal’s development, including through the implementation of high-quality Belt and Road Initiative projects agreed upon by both sides.

Prime Minister Oli is scheduled to address the Summit on September 1 and hold bilateral talks with other world leaders on the sidelines.