Shipki La

Shipki La
Shipki La
	Illustration depicting Sutlej river at Shipki La, ca. 1856
Elevation	3,930 m (12,894 ft)
Traversed by	Indian National Highway 5
Location	China–India border
Coordinates	31°49′55″N 78°44′02″E / 31.83194°N 78.73389°ECoordinates: 31°49′55″N 78°44′02″E / 31.83194°N 78.73389°E
	Location in Himachal PradeshShow map of Himachal PradeshShow map of IndiaShow all

Shipki La is a mountain pass and border post with a dozen buildings of significant size on the India-China border. The river Sutlej, which is called Langqên Zangbo in Tibet, enters India (from Tibet) near this pass.^[1] A spur road on the Indian side rises to an altitude of 4,720 metres (15,490 ft) four km southwest of Shipki La.

NH 5, the road towards Shipki La

It is located in Kinnaur district in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India, and Ngari Prefecture in Tibet, China. The pass is one of India's border posts for trade with Tibet along with Nathu La in Sikkim, and Lipulekh in Uttarakhand. The pass is close to town of Khab.

Currently the road at the pass is used only for small-scale local trade across the border.^[2] Like other border passes along the India-Tibet border, the border is no longer open for non-residents.^[3] Most people travelling between India and Tibet by land travel via Nepal.

Sino-Indian trade[]

It was suggested NH 5 could be used as a route for land access to the Arabian Sea as the Karakoram Highway is much more treacherous for transport. This opening of the border at Shipki La is claimed to potentially increase trade on both sides of the border.^[4]^[1]