Nathu La will finally open July 6!
Nathu La was the main pass connecting Lhasa with Calcutta which served for a time as Tibet's sea port until the 1962 war. The question remains whether significant trade will develop through this pass as a major link on the Silk Road. Hopefully, other passes will open up, thus ending the economic isolation of the entire border region.
This historic event, after 44 years of alienation, falls on World Tibet Day that marks the Dalai Lama's birthday and my own! Well, at least this year there is economic progress. One of the key assumptions of this blog as been that warming India-China ties will provide many new opportunities for political and economic change for the better in the Trans-Himalayan region. At least for local traders, this will be a happy day. I wonder if any of the old fellas are still around...
Here are two articles, one from the Economic Times, and an earlier one from the Independent.
As well as the initial text of the Independent article which gives a bit of the broad historical context:
At 15,000ft above sea level, the Silk Road pass is the world's highest - and loneliest - customs post. Now it is back in business in a bid to revive an ancient trade route
By Justin Huggler and Clifford Coonan
The Independent 20 June 2006
High in the Himalayas, a barbed wire fence snakes its way across a desolate landscape. On most days, a thick, white, freezing cloud descends across the peaks, and it is hard to see anything. But now and then a figure looms out of the mist, dressed in combat fatigues. It is like a scene from some old war film. This is where the Chinese and Indian armies have faced off against each other across a border that has been closed for 44 years.
But now there is frenetic activity on both sides of the border. Bulldozers are clearing land. Prefabricated warehouses have been put up. At 14,400ft above sea level, the world's highest custom house is back in business: the border is about to reopen. This is the return of the Silk Road.
The narrow road that threads its way through the hills, up to the Nathu La is barely motorable, better suited to mules than trucks. But, though it may not look it today, for 58 years this road was the main artery of trade between India and China. And now Delhi and Beijing are hoping that here the Silk Road, which once accounted for a staggering proportion of the world's productivity, can be reborn.
Talks are underway between India and China in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, for the reopening the border crossing at the Nathu La pass. If all goes according to plan, it could be open as soon as 30 June [now July 6]. And the Sikkim state government on the Indian side is predicting that by 2010, the total trade across Nathu La could be worth as much as $1bn (£540m).
[link]
This historic event, after 44 years of alienation, falls on World Tibet Day that marks the Dalai Lama's birthday and my own! Well, at least this year there is economic progress. One of the key assumptions of this blog as been that warming India-China ties will provide many new opportunities for political and economic change for the better in the Trans-Himalayan region. At least for local traders, this will be a happy day. I wonder if any of the old fellas are still around...
Here are two articles, one from the Economic Times, and an earlier one from the Independent.
As well as the initial text of the Independent article which gives a bit of the broad historical context:
At 15,000ft above sea level, the Silk Road pass is the world's highest - and loneliest - customs post. Now it is back in business in a bid to revive an ancient trade route
By Justin Huggler and Clifford Coonan
The Independent 20 June 2006
High in the Himalayas, a barbed wire fence snakes its way across a desolate landscape. On most days, a thick, white, freezing cloud descends across the peaks, and it is hard to see anything. But now and then a figure looms out of the mist, dressed in combat fatigues. It is like a scene from some old war film. This is where the Chinese and Indian armies have faced off against each other across a border that has been closed for 44 years.
But now there is frenetic activity on both sides of the border. Bulldozers are clearing land. Prefabricated warehouses have been put up. At 14,400ft above sea level, the world's highest custom house is back in business: the border is about to reopen. This is the return of the Silk Road.
The narrow road that threads its way through the hills, up to the Nathu La is barely motorable, better suited to mules than trucks. But, though it may not look it today, for 58 years this road was the main artery of trade between India and China. And now Delhi and Beijing are hoping that here the Silk Road, which once accounted for a staggering proportion of the world's productivity, can be reborn.
Talks are underway between India and China in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, for the reopening the border crossing at the Nathu La pass. If all goes according to plan, it could be open as soon as 30 June [now July 6]. And the Sikkim state government on the Indian side is predicting that by 2010, the total trade across Nathu La could be worth as much as $1bn (£540m).
[link]
posted by rajiv | permalink
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