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.
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.
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]
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.
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]
