Prime Minister of Nepal K.K. P. Sharma Oli on Saturday (August 30, 2025) raised strong objection to the agreement of India and China to resume border trade through Lipulekh. Oli claimed that the area comes under the jurisdiction of Nepal under the Sugardhi Treaty of 1816.
Of. P. Oli gave his message directly to Chinese President Xi Jinping in this regard. Oli said this to Xi Jinping during bilateral talks at Tianjin on Saturday (31 August). This meeting of Nepali PM and Chinese President took place just before the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Sangathan (SCO) summit and SCO Plus meeting held at Tianjin.
Nepal’s foreign secretary issued a statement and shared information
Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai has issued a statement in this regard. He said, ‘Oli reminded Xi Jinping that the Mahakali river was fixed as the boundary line in the Sugauli Treaty and all areas located in the east direction of the river have been described as part of Nepal, including Lipulekh.’
Rai said, ‘Prime Minister Oli also raised the Lipulekh issue during the meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In this case, he clarified that according to the Sugauli Treaty of 1816, all areas falling in the east of Mahakali river are from Nepal. In such a situation, China should not support this agreement using Lipulekh area for trade, as Nepal objected to this agreement between India and China. This clear message was conveyed to President Xi Jinping.
Nepal PMO Repeated Oli’s stance
Apart from the Foreign Secretary, the Prime Minister’s Office of Nepal (PMO) also PM K.K. Repeating this attitude of P. Sharma Oli clearly put Nepal’s side clearly. PMO said in its statement, ‘In a meeting with President Xi, PM Oli clearly objected to Nepal’s Indo-China agreement to make Nepali area a way of trade.
The bilateral discussion between the rt hon’ble, Mr. Kp Sharma Oli, Prime Minister of Nepal and His Excellency Mr. XI jinping, the president of the people’s republic of China was help at the tianjin’s guest house on August 30, 2025. pic.twitter.com/4F3Z0WQ12J
– PMO NEPAL (@PM_NEPAL_) August 30, 2025
Disputes emerged again after India and China agreement
The controversy emerged again earlier this month, when India and China agreed to reopen the trade from Lipulekh Pass in Darchula district of Nepal during a conversation in New Delhi.
At the same time, in response to this agreement of China and India, the Nepali Foreign Ministry reiterated on August 20 that the official map of Nepal has its integral parts of scripts, lipulekh and kalapani, which is mentioned in the Constitution of Nepal. However, India has retained its stance that the border trade from Lipulekh has been running since 1954 and in the last few years it was interrupted only due to Korona epidemic and some other reasons. But now India and China have agreed to resume it.
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