GANGTOK: The second season of Indo-China border trade through Nathula in East Sikkim begins on Tuesday On May1,2007, a month earlier than schedule. According to the original schedule announced last year, trading between the two neighbours through the Himalayan pass was to start on June one and go on till September 30. However, a fax message from the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industries on Saturday announced said that the period of trading through the route has been extended by three months beginning on May One and ending on November 30, District Collector East Vishal Chauhan said before leaving for the Nathula border outpost today to assess the preparations for the second season of trading beginning tomorrow. The decision to prepone and extend the period of trading follows a series of high level meetings held in New Delhi, he added. Extension of the period of trading through the route had been one of the major demands of the local trade bodies, including the Sikkim Chamber of Commerce, ever since its opening in July last year after over four decades of closure
