Beijing, Aug 20: Despite the recent understanding reached between India and China on Sikkim's status, China's official Xinhua news agency today mentioned the North-Eastern Indian state as a country.
"Sharing long borders with a number of neighbouring Asian countries like Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Myanmar, Tibet boasts geographical advantages in expanding border trade," it said in a report from Tibet's capital on the Himalayan region's foreign trade performance in recent years.
Interestingly, the report did not mention India among the countries that shared the border with the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).
During Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to China in June, India and China had signed a border trade protocol to add a third border crossing point in Sikkim, by which Indian officials said Sikkim will cease to be an issue in India-China relations.


Bureau Report