Diplomatic Talks Lead to Agreement on Lipulekh, Shipki La, Nathu La Trade

The foreign ministries of India and China announced that the three passes – Lipulekh, Shipki La and Nathu La – will once again become conduits for border trade, as per the joint statement released on 19 August 2025. The agreement was reached after a series of high‑level meetings, including a special representative dialogue in August 2025 and a subsequent encounter between Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Manila during ASEAN talks. Both ministers emphasized that sustained peace in the frontier areas is the primary condition for normalising bilateral ties, a stance that has guided their cooperation since October 2024.