Nepal China Border Agreement 1961

In early 2000, the people of Lo Manthang, on the Kora-La border, faced an unusual sight: a barbed wire fence. Kora La is not a Himalayan pass per se, but a massive alpine plain that rises above the Nyichung Valley and marked the traditional border between Mustang and Tibet and was formally demarcated in 1962. The Chinese built the fence after the Karmapa used this route to flee Tibet in December 1999, ending cross-border nomadism and trade (until China itself authorized an annual border fair). After the arrest last week of four Nepalese nationals for the murder of a Chinese woman in Taklakot (or bourang), China closed the border to all Nepalis and returned those who worked as labourers in this western Chilean city. While Humla district officials were aware of the action, the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu said it had “no specific information” about the killing or the Taklakot authorities` decision to testify about Nepalese workers. However, following the intervention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Consul General of Nepal in Lhasa, the Chinese authorities rescinded the order. The common teams came close and built columns and marks, the serial numbers 1 to 79 fixed from west to east. Among them were 48 larger columns and 31 smaller ones. In addition, they had built 20 displaced columns in which, due to natural circumstances, there were opportunities for the main columns to disappear, so that the total number of pillars and markings built reached 99.

The total length of the delineated limit has been delineated at 1439.18 kilometres. The creation of pillars of the border was completed within a year, with no disparity in words and deeds. In this way, Nepal`s northern border had expanded at the time of the De Thapathali Treaty and had gathered to and from the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) of China and had eventually moved to the Himalayan mountains. By this time, most of the Himalayan mountains had remained within the Nepalese border. It remained for almost a century. All these events and incidents show that Nepal`s northern border has moved seven times to and from Tibet in the space of eighty-one years. It is clear that, despite deepening relations, the Nepal-China border cannot be expected to be as open as its southern border. Cross-border free movement will remain a prerogative of the Chinese state and its concerns.

As such, there will be times when the movement at the border will be affected, as shown in the last episode. At the same time, the North has begun to address the border forces as a trade and employment objective, while the state`s project is progressing slowly from the south. And now China is providing direct development assistance to 15 districts bordering Tibet. There are now direct links between local district authorities in Nepal and China, and indigenous peoples have sought more effective connectivity across the border. The Nepal-China border treaty was signed on October 5, 1961. As a result of the agreement and the contract that followed, the delimitation of the borders began with the creation of columns and markings on the ground. Nepal and China currently have a common border of 1,414.88 kilometres. It passes from west to east of Zanskar and crosses various mountain ranges such as Gurans Himal, Byasrishi, Nalakankar, Chandi, Gorakh, Kanti, Gautam, Mustang, Peri, Langtang, Phurbichyachu, Rolwaling, Mahalangur, Chamlan, Umbak and Janak Himal. The border operations between the two countries, from the border delimitation agreement to the border treaty, the delimitation of the pillars, the establishment of striped maps and the signing of the border protocol, were concluded in a short period of time.

The border activities of Sino-Nepal are considered a symbol of friendship in Nepal`s history.