No transaction in Nathu La border trade in the first month

No transaction took place in the first month after bilateral trade resumed this year through Nathu La, located on the frontier post of the Sino-India border, custom officials said here.     

Bilateral trade resumed through the historic silk route on May 4 last.     

"No no transaction of goods took place in the first month at the two trade marts - Sherathang and Renguingang apparently due to the disinclination shown by the traders of the two countries in view of the available list of goods," a customs official told PTI on condition of anonymity.     

"We have been visiting the trade mart at Sherathang on all trading days (four day a week), but no no trader from the two countries visited the marts for transaction on any trade day," he said, adding the same was the case with the visit by the Indian traders at Renguingang as per the records.     

The traders of the two countries are apparently unhappy with the apathetic attitude of the governments of the two countries to review the existing goods on the trade list - 15 goods on import list from China and 29 goods on the export list from India - to make it viable in business terms.     

"The Indian traders have raised the demand for review of the list of goods with the Union Commerce Ministry several times in the past two years, but to no no avail," a representative of the Indo-Chinese traders association of Sikkim (ICTAS) said.

The Nathu La border trade will remain financially unviable for the traders till the two governments revised the list of goods, he said.     

Besides the review of the list of goods, the Indian traders have also urged the authorities to lift the restriction on the sale of the imported Chinese goods in the markets outside Sikkim for their profitability as the local markets have been choked with the goods from the neighbouring country to render it futile to stock up such goods, the ICTAS representative said.     

The state government, which had left no stones unturned to get the Nathu La border trader re-opened four years ago after a gap of about 44 years, too has expressed its exasperation at the ground reality of the border trade.     

"We are pursuing with the central government to urgently review the list of goods on its part and impress upon the Chinese government to do so to sustain the border trade," a senior Commerce and Industries Department official said.     

Inspite of similar cynicism last year, the annual border trade at Nathu La had recorded a turnover of Rs 96 lakh, of which the export from India accounted for Rs 94.6 lakh.