New Delhi – Sikkim hopes to launch a bus service to Tibet on the back of a new chapter in improved ties between Beijing and New Delhi, an official has said.
The announcement came as Sikkim’s Chief Minister Pawang Chamling prepared to fly to New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to discuss federal aid needed to resume trade between Sikkim and adjoining Tibet.
“The chief minister will also explore with the prime minister possibilities of launching a bus service between Gangtok and Lhasa,” said Chamling’s political adviser B B Gooroong.
“The step will further strengthen ties between the two neighbouring countries,” he said.
Gooroong also said Sikkim, which is almost completely dependent on federal dole, needed to build up infrastructure from scratch for trade through the “silk route” in line with an accord signed last month between India and China.
“The required steps to be taken in the wake of the agreement, particularly the infrastructural requirements of the state, are on top of the agenda for the discussion with the prime minister,” he said.
The ancient silk route trade corridor to Tibet has remained shut since 1975, when Sikkim approved a referendum to turn away from China and merge with India.
The two sides agreed to open the route during Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s trip last month to China, in what some commentators saw as tacit recognition by Beijing of India’s sovereignty over its former protectorate.
The move is widely expected to start a new chapter in overall Sino-Indian trade, which the Asian giants have forecast will double to 10 billion dollars in the next few years.
Sikkimese business forums predict that regional exports to Tibet would touch 203 million dollars from the current figure of zero on the back of cross-border sale of vegetables, oils and household items.
The “silk route” bustled with trade after Tibetan price Phuntsog Namgyal was crowned Sikkim’s ruler in 1642. British forces led by Francis Younghusband also used the route for their 1904 invasion of Tibet.
New Delhi-based officials from Chamling’s provincial government said the Gangtok-Lhasa bus service would further bolster relations and help to boost trade.
“If India can resume its bus service to Pakistan and launch another service to Bangladesh then why not between Sikkim and Tibet, which we are sure will bridge two ancient civilisations,” a state government official said.
After the resumption of bus services to Lahore, there are alos plans to link Calcutta to the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka with a bus service beginning August 9.
