20 December 2006
Indian Commerce Minister wants Nathu La upgraded
(NDTV) The Indian Commerce Ministry wants to liberalise and allow more trade between India and China through the Nathu La Pass. "We want more trade, the restrictive trade is not helping either the local economies or the country. We will move the Cabinet in January to turn Nathu La into a full-scale trading post", said Jairam Ramesh, Minister of Commerce. Both countries realise that Nathu La is not being used to its full potential. Although China and border states of the Indian Union like Sikkim and West Bengal have expressed interest in liberalising trade and tourism, the move is said to face opposition from the Home Ministry, which feels the free flow of goods could compromise security. Indian businessmen fear it will lead to China flooding Indian markets with cheap goods. The Commerce Ministry, however, dismisses these fears and wants to negotiate a list of items that cannot be traded. "We are working on a negative list of items possible like electronics and the fears of India getting flooded is unfounded. If they flood us, we too can flood their markets", said Jairam Ramesh.