India-China agrees to revive trade through HP’s Shipki-La Pass

Shimla: Less than three months after Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu launched the border tourism project at Shipki La in Kinnaur district and made a plea to the Centre to resume bilateral trade with China via Shipki La, his effort seems to have borne fruit.

On Sunday, the state government announced that the Centre has agreed to the reopening of border trade through the three designated trading points, namely Lipulekh Pass, Shipki-La Pass, and Nathu-La Pass.

“Both sides (India and China) have also agreed to continue and further expand the scale of the Indian pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, Gang Renpoche and Lake Manasarovar from 2026,” said a senior government official here.

Chinese Foreign minister Wang Yi, who recently was on a visit to India, held a meeting with External Affairs minister S. Jaishankar to discuss various bilateral issues.

Jaishankar has informed the state government that the Centre 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.

The CM had emphasised that Shipki-La, once an offshoot of the legendary Silk Route and formalised 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 also received a positive response regarding the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through Shipki-La. Sukhu highlighted that the Shipki-La route, connecting via Gartok towards Darchen and Mansarovar is comparatively shorter on the Tibetan side.

He expressed gratitude to the Centre for prioritising these key concerns of the state.