Nathu-la border trade grinds to a halt
(TibetanReview.net, Jun 04, 2009) —
No trade had taken place so far between the Indian state of Sikkim and the Dromo (Yatung) County of Tibet across the Nathu-la pass since it opened for business this year, the fourth, on May 4, reported the UNI news service Jun 2.
Traders from both the sides complain that the number of items they are allowed to trade with each other under the terms of the Sino-India deal for the opening of the Nathu-la pass were obsolete, the report said. The deal, signed in 2006 allows Indians to export only 29 items can be exported to TAR from the Indian side while the Chinese traders can export only 15 items as per the prescribed scheduled items allowed for the border trade.Most of these items listed in the schedule are obsolete and do not have commercial value, a fact which both the Chinese and Sikkimese traders have highlighted in the past three years demanding that these be increased, the report said.
No traders from Dromo had crossed the mountainous border of 14,400 feet to reach Sherathang trade mart on the Sikkim side to do business since May 4, the opening day of the fourth Nathu La border trade, the report said. Sikkimese traders too hacstopped crossing the border and going to the Renquinngang (Tibetan: Rinchengang) trade mart located on the Tibetan side, the report said.
The development has effectively brought the border trade into a standstill and the PROBLEM lies in the list of trade items, the report added.
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