Some scholars have said that since 1954, trade between India and China has been done through a secret exchange. In 2015, when India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China, why did Nepal have to worry when an agreement to increase trade and commerce between the two countries was signed?

At a time when relations between India and China were cordial, the slogan of 'Hindi-Chini Bhai-Bhai' was heard. It turned into 'Hindi-Chinese bye-bye' when the two countries became enmity. The relationship is about to improve and now it has become 'Hindi-Chinese hi-hi'. Our two neighbors have had a negative impact on Nepal's Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulek. 

After India's Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's visit to China in 1954, the relations and contacts between the two countries were greatly strengthened. After returning home, Nehru raised the slogan - 'Hindi-Chini Bhai-Bhai.' After India said that Tibet is an autonomous region of China, the Chinese also raised the courage during the meeting between the officials of the two countries and shouted the slogan 'Chinese-Hindi Bhai-Bhai'.

The reason for the creation of this slogan was the 'Agreement on Trade and Relations with the Tibetan Area' signed between India and China on April 29, 1954. It mentioned that 'Indian pilgrims will be allowed to go to Kailash Mansarovar through 6 crossings including Lipulek Bhanjyang and Indian traders will be allowed to go to Lhasa through Taklakot on the border'. In celebration of this, Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru visited China in October 1954.

Some scholars have said that there was trade between India and China since 1954. In 2015, when India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China, why did Nepal have to worry when there was an agreement to increase trade and commerce between the two countries? 

What is to be understood is that in Article-3, Section-4 of the 1954 agreement, "business residents of the border districts of the two countries can cross the border to the border districts of the other side to do petty business (petty trade) or to meet friends and relatives." is mentioned. The title of the agreement itself is 'with the Tibetan area'. In the agreement of May 15, 2015, there is a provision for 'bulk trade'.

There is a provision not only in the border area, but people and businessmen from all over India can go to the Tibetan area, Lhasa, Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing, Guanchao, etc. Clause 8 of Article 3 of the 1954 Agreement stated that 'the present Agreement shall be in force for a period of eight years'. In 1962, due to the need for renewal of this agreement, animosity arose between the two countries over border issues and a border war broke out, and it was automatically canceled instead of being renewed. Since the 1954 agreement was canceled due to hostilities, we must understand the reality that another agreement was signed in 2015. 

Over time, the relationship between the two countries deteriorated due to disagreements over the border line. As a result, five weeks of terrible border war took place in October-November 1962. The Indian-Chinese relationship turned into a 'bye-bye (Tata-Tata)' after a total of 2,105 soldiers were killed in this war, with 1,383 Indian soldiers and 722 Chinese soldiers. Currently, the relationship between the two countries is improving. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a sideline conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping on October 23, 2024 while attending the BRICS summit in Russia. In the talks, India and China have agreed to end the ongoing tension in the Ladakh region. 

India became independent from the British colony in 1947. After China annexed Tibet as an autonomous region of China in 1951, India and China bordered and the two countries became neighbors. Along the 3,488 km long border, Ladakh and Aksai China were called the western zone, Himachal and Uttarakhand were called the central zone and Arunachal Pradesh was called the eastern zone. They remained friendly countries for a few years after the border was closed. The people of both countries were given facilities to come and go in the border areas of each other. 

After a decade of friendship, the demoralization between the two countries was increasing. China does not recognize the McMahon border line drawn by India between Tibet and British India during the British rule, China started to press that it was a unilaterally drawn line in Tibet at that time. Independent India insisted that this is not the line drawn by us, it is the border established by Sir Henry McMahon of the then government in 1914-15 and the current India has accepted the same border as it carries the legacy of the British.

China pressed and said - India should withdraw from Aksai China and Arunachal Pradesh. It was formerly part of Tibet. But India terrain. As a result, in 1962, a bitter border war broke out. As a result, 32,000 square kilometers of Aksai China was occupied by China and the Chinese army stopped. China encroached on 90,000 square kilometers of land in Arunachal Pradesh. That pressure of China has remained until now.

When the Chinese army stopped, India, while searching for a strategic treaty to stop the Chinese army from advancing any further, came across Bhanjang in Nepal's Lipulek Valley and settled there. Over time, it encroached 372 square kilometers of Nepal's land up to Kalapani, Limpiyadhura. So far India has occupied that territory. After the border war, both the countries became enemies.

Now India and China sometimes want to revive friendship, and sometimes they are doing hostile actions. In June 2017, Indian and Chinese troops clashed with each other at the Doklam border in Bhutan. On June 15, 2020, in the Galwan area of ​​Ladakh, there was a clash between the troops of the two countries across the Line of Actual Control. 20 Indian and 4 Chinese soldiers were killed in the clash. 

On the other hand, India and China are seen as competitors on the world political stage. China has veto power at the United Nations. India also wants to reach there by leaps and bounds. In this sense, the enmity between India and China led to a border war and Nepal's Lipulek-Kalapani-Limpiyadhura area was encroached upon. After reaching friendship between the two countries, on May 15, 2015, an agreement was signed between the two countries through the Lipulek Bhanjyang, to enhance trade and commerce in a comprehensive manner, a blow to the sovereignty of the Lipulek region.

It is worth noting that India imports 94 billion dollars worth of ready-made goods from China annually for its 15 billion people. China buys 28 billion dollars worth of heavy and raw materials from India. This proves that China's biggest market is India. When the interests of both countries are aligned, India forgets and forgets, China also keeps quiet about the fact that Limpiyadhura and Lipulek belong to Nepal. China knows very well and has also said that Kalapani region belongs to Nepal. It is to be remembered that the tri-national border of Nepal, India and China is connected in Limpiyadhura region.

There was a border war between India and China, after the war ended, India encroached on Kalapani. Relations between the two countries improved, love grew, and the Lipulekh region of Nepal was dissolved. The point is on December 18, 2024, India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval visited China as a special representative. There he met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, a member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. On that occasion, both the countries published a joint statement and it was mentioned in section 6 that 'Both countries have agreed to resume the Kailash-Mansarovar journey of Indian pilgrims'.