China's military aggression deals big blow to border trade through Nathu La: Report

Kathmandu, Aug 18 (IANS) As many as 400 families depending on trade between Sikkim and Tibet are facing difficulties due to the prolonged closure of the border which has hit the common people on both sides, a report has highlighted.

The thriving border trade through Nathu La and the other two routes - Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand and Shipki La pass in Himachal Pradesh - came to a halt in 2020 when the Chinese army violated a series of bilateral protocols in eastern Ladakh.

"Officially, the reason for the suspension in border trade is shown to be the pandemic, but the fact remains that the pandemic ended long ago while the trade remains suspended for the past five years. The real reason for the suspension in trade is aggressive moves by China on the border, beginning in 2017 with the incursion in the Doklam Plateau in Bhutan, which is close to Nathu La," Nepal's online news portal Hamrakura reported.

Quoting Tshephel Tenzing, the General Secretary of Gangtok-based Nathu La Border Trade Association, it mentions that the repeated Chinese aggressions across the border with India have only brought suffering and hardships for the common people in the trans-Himalayan region.

According to Tenzing, the Tibetan traders and labourers are also facing financial hardships since the closure of the trade.

"He (Tenzing) had interactions with Tibetan traders at the trade marts when trading was on. Since the beginning of the border trade, the financial conditions of these Tibetans had improved. Most of the Tibetan labourers engaged in the border trade came from Tromo County, a part of the Shigatse prefecture in the plateau. Only they could travel up to the Indian trade mart at Sherathang, not the Chinese businessmen engaged in the border trade. The Tibetan traders and labourers in Tromo County have suffered the most because of the closure of the Nathu La border trade," the report detailed.

As per the Border Trade Association 400 trade passes used to be issued every year to traders in Sikkim to do business with traders in Tibet. The association has now written to the Sikkim Government to provide these traders with alternative employment.

"About 150 drivers ferrying merchandise from Gangtok to the Sherathang trade mart on the Indian side and Rinchenpong on the Tibetan side are facing loss of income since the closure of the trade. Some of them have now started driving taxis and buses on the mainline passenger routes in Sikkim," the report states.

--IANS

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