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{{Use Indian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Sumdo
| other_name =
| native_name_lang =
| settlement_type = Village
| image_skyline =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| etymology =
| pushpin_map = India Himachal Pradesh#India
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Himachal Pradesh
| coordinates = {{coord|32.0525|78.6062 |region:IN|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes =
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|India}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and union territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Himachal Pradesh]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[List of districts of India|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Lahul and Spiti district|Lahul and Spiti]]
| subdivision_type3 = [[Tehsil]]
| subdivision_name3 = Spiti
| established_title =
| established_date =
| founder =
| seat_type = [[Panchayat]]
| seat =
| leader_party =
| leader_title =
| leader_name =
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_total_km2 = 221.92
| elevation_m = 3090
| population_as_of = 2011
| population_total = 598
| population_density_km2 =
| population_demonym =
| population_footnotes = <ref name=census>{{citation |title=District Census Handbook – Lahul & Spiti |publisher=Director of Census Operations, Himachal Pradesh |year=2011 |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/479/download/1564/DH_2011_0203_PART_B_DCHB_LAHUL_SPITI.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114075305/https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/479/download/1564/DH_2011_0203_PART_B_DCHB_LAHUL_SPITI.pdf |archive-date=14 January 2024 |page=110}}</ref>
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = 
| postal_code =
| area_code_type = 
| area_code =
| footnotes =
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-zoom = 11
| mapframe-wikidata = yes
}}
'''Sumdo''' is a village in the [[Lahul and Spiti district]], in [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[India]]. It is at the confluence of the [[Pare Chu]] river with the [[Spiti River]]. Sumdo is close to the border with [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]], the opposite side on the Tibetan side being the [[Tsosib Sumkyil Township]] (Churup Sumkhel).<ref>
[https://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070610/spectrum/main1.htm Spiti: Legend & lore], Spectrum (Tribune India), 10 June 2007.
</ref> China claims the village as part of its [[Tsamda County]], Tibet.

== Geography ==
Sumdo lies in the [[Zanskar Range]] on the bank of the [[Spiti River]] near its confluence with the [[Pare Chu]] river (or Parang River). Pare Chu originates in [[Spiti]] and takes a circuitous route through [[Ladakh]] and Tibet's [[Tsamda County]], finally reentering Spiti at [[Kaurik]], 20 east of Sumdo. It joins the Spiti River at Sumdo, the combined river being called "Li River".

Across the border at Kaurik is the village of Churup (Tsurup), the seat of the [[Tsosib Sumkyil Township]] in [[Tsamda County]] of the [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]] region of China.

== Sino-Indian border dispute ==
In 1847, when the British border commission headed by [[Alexander Cunningham]] went to the Indo-Tibetan border, they were unobustructed till reaching [[Kaurik]], but were prohibited from going beyond. They sent a letter to the governor of [[Gartok]], and followed a circuitous route through Spiti to enter Ladakh. ([[Spiti]] was traditionally part of Ladakh, but it had been recently annexed by British India.){{sfnp|Cunningham, Correspondence of the Commissioners|1848|pp=89–90}}{{sfnp|Kaul, India China Boundary|2003|loc=pp. 55–56: "Thus in Spiti, it is clear, that the boundary ran along the villages of Khyuri [Kaurik], Shaktolb and Chooret."}}

In December 1957, seven years after the [[Chinese annexation of Tibet]], Chinese forces are said to have intruded at Kaurik, for which India lodged a protest. In 1959, after the [[Kongka La incident]], China raised a number of disputes regarding the border, including one at Kaurik.{{sfnp|Verghese, A Reassessment of Indian Policy in Asia|2016|pp=104–105}} 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 exchanged maps of the "middle sector" of the border in 2000. The Kaurik area, including [[Gue, Himachal Pradesh|Gue]] and Sumdo, was identified as one of the locations where the claims of the two countries overlapped, and the disputed territory was estimated to be {{convert|250|km2}}.{{sfnp|Gupta, The Himalayan Face-off|2014|p=106}}<ref>Sushant Singh, [https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-china-ladakh-border-lac-galwan-6441494/ De-escalation process underway: 2 LAC flashpoints are not in list of identified areas still contested], The Indian Express, 4 June 2020.</ref>

== Transportation ==
Sumdo is served by two national highways—[[National Highway 5 (India)|NH 5]] (Sumdo-[[Nako, Himachal Pradesh|Nako]]-[[Shimla]] Highway) through [[Kinnaur district]] and [[National Highway 505 (India)|NH 505]] (Sumdo-[[Kaza, Himachal Pradesh|Kaza]]-Gramphu-[[Manali, Himachal Pradesh|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).<ref name="kaur1">[https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/bro-restores-sumdho-gramphu-road-after-seven-months-258395 BRO restores Sumdho-Gramphu road after seven months], The Tribune, 26 May 2021.</ref> A dual-use airstrip, 100 km to the west, is under construction, scheduled to be completed in 2024.<ref name="ranga1">[https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/to-counter-china-nyoma-airfield-in-ladakh-to-be-full-fledged-base-in-2-yrs-467406 To counter China, Nyoma airfield in Ladakh to be full-fledged base in 2 years], The Tribune, 5 Jan 2023.</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Indo-China Border Roads]]
* [[India–China border infrastructure]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

; Sources
* {{citation |title=Correspondence of the Commissioners deputed to the Tibetan Frontier communicated by H. M. Elliot |journal=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal |volume=XVII, Part I |year=1848 |pp=89–132 |url=https://archive.org/details/journalofasiatic171asia/page/88 |ref={{sfnref|Cunningham, Correspondence of the Commissioners|1848}}}}
* {{citation |last=Gupta |first=Shishir |title=The Himalayan Face-Off: Chinese Assertion and the Indian Riposte |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Ig5AwAAQBAJ |year=2014 |publisher=Hachette India |isbn=978-93-5009-606-2 |ref={{sfnref|Gupta, The Himalayan Face-off|2014}}}}
* {{citation |last=Kaul |first=Hriday Nath |title=India China Boundary in Kashmir |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hYduAAAAMAAJ |year=2003 |publisher=Gyan Publishing House |ISBN=978-81-212-0826-0 |ref={{sfnref|Kaul, India China Boundary|2003}}}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Verghese |first1=B. G. |title=A Reassessment of Indian Policy in Asia |journal=India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs |volume=17 |issue=2 |year=2016 |pages=103–127 |issn=0974-9284 |doi=10.1177/097492846101700201 |ref={{sfnref|Verghese, A Reassessment of Indian Policy in Asia|2016}}}}

[[Category:Villages in Lahaul and Spiti district]]

Sumdo, Himachal Pradesh - Revision history

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