Border Town Pines for Hindi-Chini Bhai-Bhai

YADONG – China and India have been in almost continuous dialogue for the past three years on de-escalating tension along the disputed frontiers in the Indian Northeast and Ladakh. They have also been discussing the opening up of the mountain passes for commerce and travel..As far as the residents of Yadong are concerned, the India-China rapprochement cannot proceed fast enough. In fact, the residents of this Tibetan frontier town are exasperated that the Nathula pass remains firmly shut..Yadong used to be the busiest commercial centre in the Himalaya, with its strategic location at the mouth of the famous Chumbi Valley, through which a route was forced by the Younghusband mission in 1904. The trade route led up from Siligun via Kalimpong and over Nathula into Yadong. The 1962 Indo-Chinese border war put an end to all traffic, but the road is still there..The businessmen of Yadong have been reduced these past decades to casting envious glances westward towards the bustling trading town of Zham (Khasa) on the Nepal-Tibet border near Kathmandu..According to Foreign Ministry sources in Beijing, the delay is due to "some sensitive diplomatic issues" relating to developing a reciprocal venue in India to Tibet´s Yadong. The Chinese side wants it to be Kalimpong in West Bengal, but the Indian side is apparently pushing for Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. "Acceptance of a Sikkim town as Yadong´s counterpart would run against; China´s stance of not recognising Sikkim´s merger with India," says one source..Yadong would also be the staging point for trade with Bhutan, but this too is a problem. Since Thimphu´s security and foreign affairs come under the ambit of the Indian foreign office, it is said that China has to first reach an agreement with India before this avenue can be explored..Meanwhile, the frontier residents feel that they cannot wait for the slow wheels of diplomacy to turn. Despite the official prohibition, they are engaging in brisk barter trading at Yadong. Everything from rubber shoes to thermos bottles and clothes to wrist watches are bought in return for jeans, saffron and American dollars. The commerce has been lucrative enough to attract merchants from as far as Sichuan..The local government´s policy is to look the other way. "Who knows, this kind of barter trade might lead to an officially recognised, larger-scale border trade?" says Tsering Tashi, the county chief.