Nathu La, July 5 : It is party time at Nathu La.
Hands that once held guns to guard the Indo-China border, are at work, getting ready for July 6 when the pass will reopen after 44 years.
“We are very happy that past linkages, be it cultural or econnmic, will be re-established. This is a historic event that will let people of Tibet and Sikkim to renew their ancient ties,” Former chief minister of Sikkim, B B Gooroong, says.
The opening of the historic trade link will also see the birth of a new relationship between India and China.
Never before has China come this close to acknowledging Sikkim as part of India and neither was India ever so keen to put the cause of free Tibet in the backburner as they have this time around.
“Government of India knows very well that we are giving a trial run and it’s going to be a localised business initially,” Gooroong says.
But bonhomie apart, there are many issues yet to be resolved between the two countries.
Primary among them being concerns over the newly built Beijing-Tibet rail-link that will speed up troop deployment in Tibet, the unresolved boundary dispute of Arunachal Pradesh and construction of a Chinese base near Andaman islands.
While the opening of Nathu La pass marks a new high in Sino-Indian ties, any lowering of guard could be premature and, caution seems to be the only sensible option at least as of now.
“Preparedness is the best guarantor for peace and security and there is no question of lowering our guard,” Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said soon after returning from Beijing.
These issues have taken a toll on Nathu La. Once projected as a corridor of international trade, it’s now merely a place of local business and tourists will have to wait till 2012 to cross over to the other side.
