|
China-India mountain pass to reopen 44 year after war
BEIJING, June 16 (UPI) -- The Himalayan Nathula Pass, the only land route linking China and India, is set to reopen 44 years after it was closed following the 1962 Sino-Indian war.The reopening of the 14,400-foot pass, part of the famous Silk Road mapped by Britain to lead an invasion force to Tibet in 1904, marks a thaw between the two old enemies who now have become commercial rivals, reports The Times of London. Since 1962, only a weekly mail run went across the pass to exchange letters written by Tibetan herders on both sides, The Times reported. The decision to reopen the pass soon came after the Indian government, urged by Indian companies to find a land route to booming China, took up the issue with Beijing. The Chinese government finally agreed partly to boost the Tibetan economy, the report said. Some experts think the decision could eventually lead to a rail link between Lhasa, capital of Tibet, to India's capital of New Delhi, the report said. In the 18th century, India and China together accounted for 57 per cent of global manufacturing output, in large part due to their trade with each other. Posted by: john 2006-06-16 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=156370 |