India-China barter trade set to resume

The annual Indo-China barter trade, which was delayed for over a month, is all set to resume with the Uttarakhand government getting a formal permission for the same from the Centre.

Stating that a green signal has been received from the Centre regarding the resumption of barter trade at Taklakot market in Tibet, Navneet Pandey, the Trade Officer and Sub-Divisional Magistrate at Dharchula in Pithoragarh district told PTI that the administration has so far issued 27 passes to traders, who would trek to Taklakot in 7 to 8 days time.

The barter trade, which was scheduled to begin in the first week of June was extended for one more month and will end on October 31, since it was delayed, Pandey said.

Last year, the trade could not take place, for the first time since 1992, due to protests in Tibet in the wake of Beijing Olympics.

Due to poor infrastructure facilities, traders, mainly from Bhotia community, trek 60 kilometre distance from Pithoragarh crossing inhospitable terrains to reach Taklakot, the trade market in Tibet.

The volume of the barter trade has been falling during the past three years with Rs 1.5 crore business being registered two years ago.

Indian traders are calling for revoking a ban on the import of some trade items like Chinese raw silk and livestock, which are in good demand in India. The demand for the Chinese silk has been growing in India but the Centre thinks that its import would affect the local trade.

The import of livestock has been banned since no quarantine facility is available at Gunji, the Indian market at Pithoragarh.

Through barter trade with their Chinese and Tibetan counterparts, Indian traders exchange goods like jaggery, wool, spices and blankets among other things.

The Indo-Tibet barter trade, which was resumed in 1992 after a gap of 30 years following the 1962 war, reached Rs 14 crore mark in 2004. But after the ban on certain items like livestock and Chinese silk, the volume of trade started falling gradually.