The Bum La Pass is a border pass between China's

Tsona County Tsona City (, zh, s=错那市), formerly Tsona County, is a county-level city in Shannan Prefecture in the southeastern part of the Tibet region of China. Tsona means "The face of the ara Yumcolake" in Tibetan. It lies immediately to the nort ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

and India's

Tawang district Tawang district (Pron:/tɑ:ˈwæŋ or təˈwæŋ/) is the smallest of the 26 Districts of Arunachal Pradesh, administrative districts of Arunachal Pradesh state in northeastern India. With a population of 49,977, it is the eighth least populous ...

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

. It is 37 km away from the town of Tawang in India's Tawang district and 43 km from the town of Tsona Dzong in China's Tsona County. The pass currently serves as a trading point between Arunachal Pradesh and Tibet.Indo-China Border Trade
Department of Trade & Commerce, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, retrieved 13 July 2020. It is also an agreed Border Personnel Meeting point for the security forces of China and India.

Location

An old traders road went from

Tawang Tawang is a town and administrative headquarter of Tawang district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It lies on NH-13 section of Trans-Arunachal Highway. The town was once the headquarter of the Tawang Tract, which is now divided into ...

via Milakatong La Pass ("La" in the Tibetan Language means "pass") to Bum La Pass and finally to Tsona Dzong in

History

1962 Sino-Indian War

The road to Bum La is also a historical route, the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

invaded India during the 1962

Sino-Indian War The Sino–Indian War, also known as the China–India War or the Indo–China War, was an armed conflict between China and India that took place from October to November 1962. It was a military escalation of the Sino–Indian border dispu ...

. Here in Bum La Pass one of the fiercest battles, the Battle of Bum La Pass, took place in the 1962

Opening of Trade Route in 2006

In 2006, Bumla pass was re-opened to traders for the first time in 44 years. Traders from both sides of the pass were permitted to enter each other's territories, in addition to postal workers from each country.

Climate

It is often covered with heavy snow throughout the year. It is one of the most off-beat passes in the world.

Tourism

Visit by civilian tourist of India is permissible with permission from the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

. The track is very treacherous, only

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definition ...

s advisable, and that too only on clear weather day with no snowfall or rainfall. Bum La is part of the Bharat Ranbhoomi Darshan initiative of the Indian Military which will boost border tourism, patriotism, local infrastructure and economy while reversing civilian outward migration from these remote locations, it entails 77 battleground war memorials in border area including the '' Longewala War Memorial, Sadhewala War Memorial,The Story Of Tanot Mata, The Deity Who Protected Our Soldiers From Pakistani Bombs In 1971 War
India Times, 16 Dec 2020. Siachen base camp,

Kargil Kargil or Kargyil is a City in Indian-administered Ladakh in the disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the WP:TERTIARY, tert ...

Galwan The Galwan River flows from the disputed Aksai Chin area administered by China to the Union Territory of Ladakh, India. It originates near the caravan camping ground of Samzungling on the eastern side of the Karakoram range and flows west to jo ...

Pangong Tso Pangong Tso or Pangong Lake (; zh, s=班公错, p=Bān gōng cuò; ) is an endorheic lake spanning eastern Ladakh and Ngari Prefecture, West Tibet situated at an elevation of . It is long and divided into five sublakes, called ''Pangong Tso' ...

Rezang La Rezang La iarchive:dli.pahar.3148/page/n1413, Note given by the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, to the Embassy of China in India, 26 July 1963. "The location of Rezang La (E 78° 51' 10" N 33° 25' 30" []) is well known... " is a moun ...

, Doklam, Cho_La_(Sikkim_and_Tibet), Cho La, Kibithu, etc.Add Galwan, Siachen to holiday plan. India is opening battle tourism bunker
India Today, 15 Jan 2025.

Sangestar Tso

Created by falling rocks, boulders and trees in an earthquake, there is a Sangestar Tso lake (lake is called Tso in Tibetan) that featured

Madhuri Dixit Madhuri Dixit Nene (Maiden and married names, née Dixit, ; born 15 May 1967) is an Indian actress and television personality. She has appeared in Madhuri Dixit filmography, over 70 Hindi films. Praised by critics for her performances and danc ...

(

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

actress) in the movie

Koyla ''Koyla'' ( Coal) is a 1997 Indian Hindi-language action film, action thriller film directed, co-written and produced by Rakesh Roshan starring Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Amrish Puri in lead roles with Johnny Lever, Ashok Saraf, Salim Gh ...

, as a result this lake is sometimes also called ''Madhuri lake''. The lake is about 20 km from

town, about 7 km beyond the bifurcation of road leading to ''Bum La Pass''.

''Heap of Stones'' Monument

There is a ''Heap of Stones'' here where Indian visitors place pebbles as gratitude to the Himalayas and Indian security forces. There is a Sino-India friendship sign here.

Indo-China Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) point

It is one of the five officially agreed Border Personnel Meeting points between the

and the

for regular consultations and interactions between the two armies to improve relations. Here, there is a hut on the India side where border meetings are held by the rival armies.

Permit

A special permit is required to visit Bum La Pass. The Permits can be requested at the Office of the Deputy Commissioner in

Tawang District Tawang district (Pron:/tɑ:ˈwæŋ or təˈwæŋ/) is the smallest of the 26 Districts of Arunachal Pradesh, administrative districts of Arunachal Pradesh state in northeastern India. With a population of 49,977, it is the eighth least populous ...

, and the same has to be stamped in the Indian army cantonment of Tawang. Without the army stamp, visitors will not be allowed through the numerous check posts on the way.

References

External links

* {{Authority control China–India border crossings Mountain passes of Arunachal Pradesh Mountain passes of Tibet Mountain passes of China Mountain passes of India Mountain passes of the Himalayas Borders of Arunachal Pradesh