INDIA: CHINA-Tribune: Efforts Underway To Resolve Trade Roadblocks

(MNI) London - The Tribune reports that efforts are underway between Beijing and New Delhi to improve trade links and economic cooperation. This comes after an improvement in relations after agreements were reached in 2024 regarding patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The disputed Sino-Indian border in the Himalayas had for years been a source of tension amid regular melee skirmishes between troops on each side. 

• In a written reply to a parliamentary question, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh stated, “Issues related to restrictive trade measures and roadblocks to economic cooperation have been raised by the External Affairs Minister and Foreign Secretary with their Chinese counterparts. Discussions on these matters have also been held at the working level,”
• Vardhan Singh also said the gov't is engaged with China on the potential re-opening of three border passes - Nathu La (Sikkim/Tibet), Shipki La (Himachal/Tibet), and Lipulekh (Uttarakhand/Tibet) - for trade ahead of PM Narendra Modi's visit to China for the 31 Aug-1 Sep Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. The passes have been closed to trade since the COVID-19 pandemic, and have not reopened following the deterioration in Sino-Indian relations in 2020-22.