Kaurik

Kaurik
Village
Kaurik Location in Himachal Pradesh Show map of Himachal Pradesh Kaurik Kaurik (India) Show map of India
Coordinates: 32°05′46″N78°40′23″E / 32.096°N 78.673°E / 32.096; 78.673
Country	India
State	Himachal Pradesh
District	Lahul and Spiti
Tehsil	Spiti
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)

Kaurik ^[a] is a village in the Lahul and Spiti district, in Himachal Pradesh, India. It is in the valley of the Parang or Pare Chu river before its confluence with the Spiti River. Kaurik is close to the border with Tibet, the opposite village on the Tibetan side being Tsurup Sumgyi (or Tsosib Sumkyil). ^[3] China claims the village as part of its Zanda County, Tibet.

Geography

Kaurik lies in the Zanskar Range on the bank of the Pare Chu river (or Parang River). Pare Chu originates in Spiti and takes a circuitous route through Ladakh and Ngari Khorsum, finally reentering Spiti at Kaurik. It joins the Spiti River at Sumdo about 20 km to the southwest.

Demographics

In 1975, landslides during an earthquake completely destroyed the village situated in Kaurik, ^{[4] [5]} Largest number of survivors of Kaurik village now reside in Hurling village in this area. ^[6] The ruins of Kaurik are in a restricted area under Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) control.^{[ citation needed ]}

Sino-Indian border dispute

In 1847, when the British border commission headed by Alexander Cunningham went to the Indo-Tibetan border at Kaurik, they were unobustructed till reaching that place, but were prohibited from going beyond. They faced the emissaries of the governor of Gartok, who were sent there for the purpose of pointing out the "ancient boundary between Ladakh and the Chinese territory". (Spiti was traditionally part of Ladakh.) ^{[2] [7]}

In December 1957, seven years after the Chinese annexation of Tibet, Chinese forces were said to have intruded at Kaurik, for which India lodged a protest. It was only in 1959, after the Kongka La incident, that China raised a number of disputes regarding the mutual border, including at Kaurik. ^[8] However, there have been no clashes at this location till date.

During the 1990s, a joint working group of India and China held multiple meetings and exchaned maps of the "middle sector" of the border in 2000. Kaurik was identified as one of the locations where the two countries claims overlapped, and the disputed territory was estimated to be 250 square kilometres (97 sq mi). ^{[9] [10]} It is believed that the Chinese claim extends down to Sumdo, and includes the Gue village and valley.

Transportation

Kaurik is connected to the rest of India through the Kaurik–Sumdo Road, and from Sumdo, through two national highways—the NH 5 Sumdo-Nako-Shimla Highway through Kinnaur district and the NH 505 Sumdo-Kaza-Gramphu-Manali highway through the Spiti River valley. The latter remains closed for 7 months due to winter snows on the Kunzum Pass (4,551 m or 14,931 ft). ^[11] A dual-use airstrip, 100 km to the west, is under construction, scheduled to be completed in 2024. ^[12]

Notes

1. Older spellings: Khyuri, ^[1] and Khyuré ^[2]

References

1. Kaul, India China Boundary (2003), pp. 55–56.
2. Cunningham, Correspondence of the Commissioners (1848), pp. 89–90.
3. Spiti: Legend & lore, Spectrum (Tribune India), 10 June 2007.
4. Chawla, Noni (30 November 2015). "A road trip to Spiti in Himachal Pradesh". Outlook.
5. Srivastava, Lakshman Saran, "Landslides in Rock Slopes During January 19, 1975, Kinnaur Earthquake in Himachal Pradesh, India" (1988). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 10.
6. Alam, Aniket; Panta, Aman Kant; Thakur, Kesang; Chaturvedi, Neekee (2021), "Losing a Home, Finding a Nation: The Curious History of Hurling Village in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh", The Annual Kathmandu Conference on Nepal & The Himalaya
7. Kaul, India China Boundary (2003), pp. 55–56: "Thus in Spiti, it is clear, that the boundary ran along the villages of Khyuri [Kaurik], Shaktolb and Chooret.".
8. Verghese, A Reassessment of Indian Policy in Asia (2016), pp. 104–105.
9. Gupta, The Himalayan Face-off (2014), p. 106.
10. Sushant Singh, De-escalation process underway: 2 LAC flashpoints are not in list of identified areas still contested, The Indian Express, 4 June 2020.
11. BRO restores Sumdho-Gramphu road after seven months, The Tribune, 26 May 2021.
12. To counter China, Nyoma airfield in Ladakh to be full-fledged base in 2 years, The Tribune, 5 Jan 2023.

Sources

• "Correspondence of the Commissioners deputed to the Tibetan Frontier communicated by H. M. Elliot", Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, XVII, Part I: 89–132, 1848
• Gupta, Shishir (2014), The Himalayan Face-Off: Chinese Assertion and the Indian Riposte, Hachette India, ISBN   978-93-5009-606-2
• Kaul, Hriday Nath (2003), India China Boundary in Kashmir, Gyan Publishing House, ISBN   978-81-212-0826-0
• Verghese, B. G. (2016). "A Reassessment of Indian Policy in Asia". India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs. 17 (2): 103–127. doi:10.1177/097492846101700201. ISSN   0974-9284.