Officials from India and China will meet tomorrow in Lhasa, capital of occupied Tibet to finalize dates for reopening the Nathu La border pass for trading between the two countries.
The six-member delegation from India’s commerce ministry, led by Mr. C. Fernandes, a senior official of the federal commerce and industries ministry, also includes Sikkim’s principal secretary for Industries and Commerce, Karma Gyatso, reported Islamic Republic News Agency.
Sikkim’s Industries Director, Saman Prasad Subba was quoted as saying in the report that the meeting was aimed at deciding a “mutually convenient date for starting border trading at Nathu La”.
The Indian delegation is expected to return home from Lhasa by June 21.
But ahead of this meeting, reports in certain sections of the Indian media have speculated the reopening date to be June 30. However, the items to be traded between the two countries following the reopening have been finalised by both the governments, according to a Press Trust of India (PTI) report today quoting a notification by the Indian Director General of Foreign Trade. The notification said people living along both sides of the border would be allowed to trade freely through Gunji, Namgaya Shipkila and Nathu La.
The items allowed for import are wool, goat cashmere (Pasham), goat skins, sheep skins, yak tails, goats, sheep, yak hair, horses, salt, borax, China clay, butter and silk.
The products that can be exported are farm implements, blankets, copper products, clothes, textiles, cycles, coffee, tea, barley, rice, flour, dry fruit, dry and fresh vegetables, vegetable oil, gur and misri, tobacco, cigarettes, canned food, agro chemicals, local herbs, dyes, spices, watches, shoes, kerosene oil, stationery, utensils and wheat.
As per the notification, imports of goat skins, sheep skins and yak tails, goats, sheep, yak hair and horses would be subject to the provisions of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
