Border trade hiccup at Nathula, again

GANGTOK, 19 Nov: Nathula and border trade have not been easy this season, both for traders as well as the different security agencies manning the border with China. Border trade between Sikkim and the Tibetan Autonomous Region was once again suspended for a week and resumed only today, Monday, after much uncertainty.
There have been several disruptions in trade this 2012 season, and now, with barely a couple of weeks of trading left for the year, the latest unscheduled break in trading activity has many traders, mainly Indian traders, rather distraught.
No clear reason is officially available as to why trade was suspended the whole of last week, but as per reports, Chinese traders refused to engage. Reasons forwarded ranged from elections to bad roads. In fact China has just witnessed a leadership change with the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China having selected new leaders for the next 10 years to lead China just last week. This was forwarded as one plausible reason and it is suspected that the selection process would have caused anxious moments for the Tibetans in TAR.
On the other hand, reports coming in suggest that the trade was suspended due to bad road conditions and landslides. This seems highly unlikely as this time of the year there are hardly any rains especially the kind that can trigger landslides. On the other hand traders going across never miss a chance to eulogize the high quality road infrastructure in the Tibetan Autonomous Region either.
Whatever the reason Indian traders kept going up to Sherathang in the hope of meeting up with their Chinese counterparts and those that crossed over to the Chinese trade mart also did not meet with much business, it is informed.
Today, eventually, and after much uncertainty, Tibetan traders finally showed up and trading resumed.
Some are of the opinion that these are Chinese pressure tactics not only targeted to achieve the release of Liangki Jiancen who is in the state jail facing charges of espionage but also to put off paying their Indian business partners. The Chinese national who was arrested for taking photographs will be holed up in jail at least till late December.
On the other hand, Indian traders are anxious as many have dues, running into lakhs, yet to be recovered from their business partners across the border. If they fail to recover their deposits and investments by 30 November, they will have to wait 6 months before they can meet the Chinese traders to recover their dues next May.