India and China eye resumption of border trade

AFP | New Delhi

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India India and China are discussing resuming border trade five years after it was halted, foreign ministry officials on both sides have said, as US tariffs disrupt the global trade order.

Past trade between the neighbours across the icy and high-altitude Himalayan border passes was usually small in volume, but any resumption is significant for its symbolism.

The two major economic powers have long competed for strategic influence across South Asia.

However, the two countries, caught in global trade and geopolitical turbulence triggered by US President Donald Trump’s tariff regime, have moved to mend ties.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is expected for talks in New Delhi on Monday, according to Indian media, after his counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visited Beijing in July.

That, as well as agreements to resume direct flights and issue tourist visas, has been seen as an effort to rebuild a relationship damaged after a deadly 2020 border clash between troops.

“For a long time, China–India border trade cooperation has played an important role in improving the lives of people living along the border,” China’s foreign ministry said in a statement sent to AFP on Thursday.

It said the two sides have “ reached a consensus on cross-border exchanges and cooperation, including resumption of border trade”.

New Delhi’s junior foreign minister, Kirti Vardhan Singh, told parliament last week that “India has engaged with the Chinese side to facilitate the resumption of border trade”.

No restart date was given by either side.