Kathmandu, Aug 18
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 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.