India-China border trade at Nathula resumes after six years

The border trade between India and China through the Nathula Pass resumed on Saturday after six years, marking the revival of one of the oldest trading corridors along the ancient Silk Route, officials said.

The trade had remained suspended since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent strain in India-China border relations.

A formal reopening ceremony was held at Nathula in East Sikkim, where officials from the two neighbouring nations participated, signalling the return of seasonal trade through the strategically significant mountain pass at over 14,000 feet.

Announcing the resumption, Sikkim’s Commerce and Industries Department Secretary Karma D Youtso said the seasonal trade will be conducted from Monday to Thursday until November under the existing bilateral trade protocol.

“Thirty-eight registered traders have been issued trade passes this year. Around 36 notified items, including handicrafts, handloom products, traditional religious articles, ready-made garments and other approved goods, will be traded through the route,” Youtso said.

She added that elaborate security arrangements have been put in place, with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) enforcing the Standard Operating Procedure. Additional ITBP personnel have been deployed at Nathula, including a women’s platoon for the first time.

The reopening is expected to inject fresh momentum into the local economy by generating business for registered traders, transport operators and other stakeholders dependent on border trade.

Nathula was reopened for border trade in 2006 after remaining shut for more than four decades following the 1962 India-China war. The pass serves as one of the designated border trade points between the two countries and traditionally operates from May to November each year.

Trade bodies and government officials welcomed the revival, expressing hope that the reopening would restore livelihoods, strengthen economic activity in the border region and reinforce long-standing commercial ties between the neighbouring nations.

For Sikkim’s border communities, the reopening marks not just the return of trade, but the revival of a historic economic lifeline that had remained silent for almost six years, officials said.