RAS question
The Lipulekh Pass is located on the border of India with:
Correct answer: (A) China (Tibet).
Lipulekh Pass is located on the India-China border, linking Uttarakhand with Tibet.
Explanation
Lipulekh Pass is in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand on the India-China border, with the China side being Tibet. This is why the correct option is China (Tibet), not Nepal. The Ministry of Defence's PIB release on the 2020 road inauguration describes the Dharchula-Lipulekh link as running from Dharchula in Uttarakhand to Lipulekh on the China border, and says the road terminates at Lipulekh Pass, the gateway to Kailash-Mansarovar. The same context explains its exam relevance: Lipulekh is not just a named Himalayan pass but a strategic and pilgrimage route used for the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra, with India building the Darchula-Lipulekh highway up to the pass in 2020.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Nepal is linked to the dispute around the area, but the pass itself connects India in Uttarakhand directly with Tibet on the China border.
- (C) Pakistan is not relevant because Lipulekh lies in the eastern Himalayas of Uttarakhand, far from India's border with Pakistan.
- (D) Bhutan is wrong because the question concerns Lipulekh in Uttarakhand, while Bhutan-border pass references belong to the eastern Himalayan sector, such as the Jelep La area in Sikkim.
Concept
This tests the mapping of Himalayan passes and India's international borders. It recurs in RAS because border passes combine physical geography with strategic connectivity and pilgrimage routes.