Unrest may affect Indo-Tibet barter trade

"Like Mansarovar, atmosphere is not very conducive for the barter trade also," said Shrish Kumar, SDM (Dharchula) and nodal officer for the barter trade. Kumar said no trade pass has been issued for the traders so far, who trek miles from Pithoragarh crossing inhospitable terrains to reach Taklakot, the trade mart in Tibet.

The annual Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage has been postponed till June 13 due to the Tibet unrest with uncertainty still looming over the yatra.

The volume of the barter trade has been hovering at Rs 1 to 2 crore during the past two to three years. Indian Traders are peeved at the Centre for imposing a ban on the import of some trade items like Chinese raw silk and livestock, which are in great demand in India.

The tribal Bhotia traders have been demanding for the revocation of the ban. "We have forwarded the demands to the Central government," said a Pithoragarh district official.

The demand for 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 mart at Pithoragarh.

Through the 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 resumed in 1992 after a gap of 30 years following the 1962 war, reached Rs 14 crore mark in the year 2004. But after the ban on certain items like livestock and Chinese silk, the volume of trade is gradually falling touching as low as Rs 1.5 crore last year.