The Union Ministry’s communication caught the state government off-guard, giving both the state authorities overseeing the Nathula trade and the traders as well with very little time to prepare for the reopeningGANGTOK: One way it came as the fulfillment of traders’ demand on this side of the frontier, but that same being pre-poned a month ahead also came as a surprise to the unprepared traders. The office of the District Collector, East announced today that border trade over Nathula will resume from 1 May 2007.
This decision came after a series of high-level meetings held in New Delhi last week on issues pertaining to the trade. The Union Commerce Ministry along with Sikkim government officials reportedly discussed ways and means to iron out the creases and make the trade more ‘vibrant and energetic’.
The meeting decided to extent the number of months for trade further by two months till 30 November this year. As local traders are running short of time to prepare for the trade, general mood among merchants seems optimistic with expectations that the trade this time around would translate into hard cash. Extension of the number of months for trade is one of the demands of the Nathula trading community.
Welcoming the news of early trade resumption, the President to Sikkim Chambers of Commerce, SK Sarda said other pending issues concerning the border trade should also be resolved in earnest for the trade to be satisfactory to both countries. “We are optimistic that our additional demands would be considered positively by the Centre at the earliest,” he said.
As no news of pre-ponement of trade resumption was at hand for the Sikkimese traders, reports reveals that hectic preparation was on at the other side of the border at Renquinggang Trade Mart in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) in anticipation of the early re-opening.
As the DC’s office in East district jumped to accept applications for issuance of fresh passes for the new season, 40 applications for trade permits were reportedly received so far allowing 20 traders to get into Renqinggang Mart in TAR.
Trading is open only to traders from Sikkim who are allowed to travel up to Renquinggang for purposes of trade on the basis of a Travel Pass issued by the DC (East)’s office here. The Sikkim Chambers of Commerce has been trying to draw the attention of the Central government to the various impediments that have ‘weakened the Nathula trade’.
Among the various issues that have been placed before the Centre are review of the import-export item list, permission for Indian traders to stay at Renqinggang for at least two days, issuance of IEC code for Sikkimese traders without PAN, issuance of dollars for traders for trade purposes and extension of CFS and CITES offices at Sherathang Trade Mart; and improvement in the road connectivity, especially the National Highway 31A.
