Border trade for this year will resume at Nathu La, located at an altitude of 14,200 feet on the Sino-India frontier, on May 3, an official release said on Monday.
The process for issuance of trade passes for interested traders for their participation at the annual border trade will soon begin at the East Sikkim District Collector’s office soon, the release said.
The traders have been asked to submit their application with the authorities for issuance of passes to them, it said.
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The number of goods on trade list remains unchanged for this year with 29 items on export list form India and 15 items on import list from Tibet Autonomous region.
The historical Nathu La border trade had commenced in 2006 between India and China after a gap of over 40 years after the two countries had signed an agreement for re-opening the silk route for bilateral trade involving the traders of Sikkim and Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).
The last year’s trade had been beneficial for the Indian traders who had registered an export volume at Rs. 1.35 crore.
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The import volume had stood at Rs. 2.96 lakh with the Indian traders evincing little interest in importing goods from TAR.