Pithoragarh (Uttaranchal), Aug 24: The annual Indo-Tibet trade at Taklakot area in Tibet is gradually picking up momentum with 100 Indian businessmen going there for trading through barter, official sources said today. Though, statistics for the volume of trade were not available with district authorities, reports pouring here from across the border suggested that Indian traders were mainly bartering items like raw silk, wool, utensils, jaggery, clothes, spices and bicycles among other things.
A total of 250 trade passes have been issued so far to Indian traders for visiting Tibet, District Magistrate N C Sharma said.
A makeshift branch of State Bank of India has been opened at Gunji in Pithoragarh district bordering Tibet for the convenience of Indian traders, the sources said adding Bank of China has also opened its branch in Taklakot in Tibet but has no exchange facility.
The non-availability of the exchange facility is compelling the Indian traders to spend the profit earned in Yuan by buying Chinese goods in Tibet, they said.
Small businessmen from China and Nepal also participate in the trade between India and Tibet which was estimated to be Rs 7 crore.
The barter trade between Tibet and India is an annual feature which resumed ten years ago after it was halted in 1962 due to the Sino-Indian war. This year, the trade was scheduled to begin in June but was postponed for two months due SARS scare in China. Bureau Report