Minister of state for external affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh on Friday said the government is in touch with China to restart border trade through three key mountain passes, Lipulekh in Uttarakhand, Shipki La in Himachal Pradesh, and Nathu La in Sikkim. The minister was responding to a question raised by Rajya Sabha MP Dorjee Tshering Lepcha. In a written reply, Singh explained that these routes were formally set up for trade between India and China under existing bilateral agreements, Lipulekh since 1992, Shipki La since 1995, and Nathu La since July 2006. However, all trade through these points stopped during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and has not resumed since. Ties between the two nations soured sharply after the 2020 Galwan Valley clash in Ladakh, prompting India to impose tighter foreign direct investment (FDI) norms for neighbouring countries, suspend tourist visas for Chinese nationals, and ban several Chinese apps. “The Government of India has engaged with the Chinese side to facilitate the resumption of border trade through all these trade routes,” Singh said.Ties between India and China have shown signs of improvement after the United States imposed tariffs on Indian goods. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in China. Meanwhile, China has criticised US president Donald Trump’s pressure on India to stop buying oil from Russia, calling it a form of bullying. Talks are alos underway to revive India-Russia-China trilateral framework.Trump also threatened China recently when asked why he was singling out India when China was buying more Russian oil than India. “It may happen. I don’t know, I can’t tell you yet. But we did it with India. We are doing it probably with a couple of others, one of them could be China,” he said.
