[1] A spur road on the Indian side rises to an altitude of 4,720 metres (15,490 ft) four km southwest of Shipki La.

The pass is on the border between the Kinnaur district in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India, and the Ngari Prefecture in Tibet, China.

The pass is one of India's border trading points with Tibet along with Nathu La in Sikkim, and Lipulekh in Uttarakhand.

Captain Robert Hamond, who travelled from Gartok to the Bashahr State via Shipki La in 1939, described his journey as follows:[4] The road from Tyak to Shipki is very dangerous and precipitous, sometimes consisting of a rather insecure scaffolding on the face of the cliff, hundreds of feet above the roaring torrent, and is suitable only for porters or goats as the path is often cut into the cliff and one has to bend double to proceed.

[4]: 11 It was suggested NH 5 could be used as a route for land access to the Arabian Sea as the Karakoram Highway is much more treacherous for transport.