Nathu La

Nathu La
Stairs leading to the border on the Indian side
Elevation	4,310 m (14,140 ft)
Location	India –  People's Republic of China (Tibet)
Range	Himalaya
Coordinates	27.34° N 88.85° E
Traversed by	Old Silk Route

Nathu La (Nepali: नाथू ला, IAST: Nāthū Lā) a mountain pass in the Himalayas located on the Indo–China border connecting the Indian state of Sikkim with the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. The pass, at 4,310 m (14,140 ft) above mean sea level, forms part of an offshoot of the ancient Silk Road. Nathu means "listening ears" and La means "pass" in Tibetan. It is also spelled Ntula, Natu La, Nathula, or Natula.

Nathu La constitutes one of the three trading border posts between China and India; Shipkila in Himachal Pradesh and Lipulekh (or Lipulech) in Uttarakhand complete the list. Sealed by India after the 1962 Sino-Indian War, the governments re-opened the post in 2006 following numerous bilateral trade agreements. The opening of the pass has been expected to bolster the economy of the region and play a key role in the growing Sino-Indian trade. Currently, agreements between the two nations limit trade across the pass to the export of 29 types of goods from India and import of 15 from the Chinese side. The opening also shortens the travel distance to important Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the region.

This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

History

Nathu La, located on the 563 km (333 mi) Old Silk Route (an offshoot of the historic Silk Road), connects Lhasa in Tibet to the plains of Bengal to the south. In 1815, trade picked up in volume after the British annexed territories belonging to the Sikkimese, Nepalese, and Bhutanese. The potential of Nathu La materialized in 1873, after the Darjeeling Deputy Commissioner published a report on the strategic importance of mountain passes between Sikkim and Tibet. In December 1893, the Sikkimese monarchy and Tibetan rulers signed an agreement to increase trade between the two nations. The agreement culminated in 1894 when the trade pass opened.

The British expeditionary force led by Major Younghusband (seated center)

Nathu La played a key role in the 1903–1904 British expedition to Tibet, which sought to prevent the Russian Empire from interfering in Tibetan affairs and thus gaining a foothold in the region. In 1904, Major Francis Younghusband, serving as the British Commissioner to Tibet, led a successful mission through Nathu La to capture Lhasa. That led to the setting up of trading posts at Gyantse and Gartok in Tibet, and gave control of the surrounding Chumbi Valley to the British. The following November, China and Great Britain ratified an agreement approving trade between Sikkim and Tibet. In 1947, a popular vote for Sikkim to join newly-independent India failed and Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru agreed to a special protectorate status for Sikkim. Sikkim agreed act as a protectorate nation, allowing Indian troops to man its borders, including Nathu La. During that period, more than 1,000 mules and 700 people participated in cross-border trade through Nathu La. In 1949, when the Tibetan government expelled the Chinese living there, most of the displaced Chinese returned home through the Nathu La–Sikkim–Kolkata route.

Location of Nathu La in Sikkim

With the absence of air or rail facilities in the region in the 1950s, several dignitaries used Nathu La to cross the international boundary between Tibet and Sikkim. The current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, used the pass to travel to India for the 2,500th birthday celebration of Gautama Buddha, held between November 1956 and February 1957. Later, on 1 September 1958, Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi, and Palden Thondup Namgyal (son of—and internal affairs adviser to—Tashi Namgyal, the Chogyal of Sikkim) used the pass to travel to nearby Bhutan.

After the People's Republic of China took control of Tibet in 1950 and suppressed a Tibetan uprising in 1959, the passes into Sikkim became a conduit for refugees from Tibet. During the 1962 Sino-Indian War, Nathu La witnessed skirmishes between soldiers of the two countries. Shortly thereafter, the nations sealed the passage, which remained closed for more than four decades. Between September 7 and 13, 1967, China's People's Liberation Army and the Indian Army had six-day "border skirmishes," including the exchange of heavy artillery fire. In 1975, Sikkim acceded to India and Nathu La became part of Indian territory. China refused to acknowledge the accession.

In 1988, India's Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited Beijing, where he recognized China's suzerainty over Tibet. In 1993, Jyoti Basu, the then Chief Minister of the Indian state of West Bengal, initiated a campaign to reopen the Lhasa–Kalimpong route which ran through Jelepla without success. The following year, Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao's visit to China led to further talks on the opening of the pass. The talks proved unsuccessful due to security concerns raised by the Indian army.

During the 1990s, India and China signed bilateral trade agreements that paved way for opening of the pass. In December 1991, India and China signed the Memorandum on the Resumption of Border Trade; subsequently signing, in July 1992, the Protocol on Entry and Exit Procedures for Border Trade. Those two documents contained provisions for border trade through Nathu La. On June 23, 2003, India and China signed the Memorandum on Expanding Border Trade that provided for the use of Nathu La in border trade between India and China.

The Chinese Military Checkpost in Nathu La

In 2003, with the thawing of Sino-Indian relations, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to China led to the resumption of talks on opening the border. Later in 2004, the Indian Defense Minister's visit to China led to the formal opening of the pass.

Last-minute infrastructure problems on the Chinese side postponed the opening, originally scheduled for October 2, 2005. Finally, after a decade of talks, Nathu La opened on 6 July 2006. The date of the re-opening coincided with the birthday of the reigning Dalai Lama, widely seen as a snub to the International Tibet Independence Movement. A Chinese postman with an Indian military escort, who handed over mail to his Indian counterpart in a building at the border, represented the only person permitted to cross the barbed-wire frontier in the years before the re-opening. The event also formally recognized Tibet as part of China by India and Sikkim's accession to India.

A ceremony on the Indian side, attended by officials from both countries, including Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling (the chief guest), the Chinese ambassador to India, and the Tibetan Autonomous Region Chairman, Champa Phuntsok, marked the opening of the pass. A delegation of 100 traders from India and 100 Tibetans crossed the border to respective trading towns. Despite heavy rain and chilly winds, attendance of many officials, locals, and international and local media marked the ceremony. The two nations replaced the barbed wire fence between India and China with a 10 m (30 ft) wide stone-walled passageway. The two nations decided to mark the year 2006 as the year of Sino-Indian friendship.

Geography

Geography of the region

One of the world's highest navigable roads, the pass sits 54 km (34 mi) east of the Sikkimese capital, Gangtok, and 430 km (270 mi) from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. In winter, heavy snowfall blocks the pass. Without a meteorological center in Nathu La, systematic measurements of meteorological data (such as temperature and rainfall) has been unavailable for the region. Unofficial temperature confirm that in the higher reaches of the Himalayas around the region, summer temperature never exceeds 15 °C (59 °F).

Nathu La has moderately-shallow, excessively-drained, coarse and loamy soil on steep slope (30–50 percent) with gravelly loamy surface, moderate erosion, and moderate stoniness. It has several sinking zones, with sections prone to landslides. To preserve the fragile environment of Nathu La on the Indian side, the government of India regulates the flow of tourists. Border Roads Organization, a wing of the Indian Army, maintains roads. On the Chinese side the pass leads to the Chumbi Valley of the Tibetan Plateau.

Flora and fauna

Vegetation of the region

Because of the steep elevation increase around the pass, the vegetation graduates from sub-tropical forest at its base, to a temperate region, to a wet and dry alpine climate, and finally to cold tundra desert devoid of vegetation. Around Nathu La and the Tibetan side, the region has little vegetation besides scattered shrubs. Major species found in the region include dwarf rhododendrons (Rhododendron anthopogon, R. setosum) and junipers. The meadows include the genera Poa, Meconopsis, Pedicularis, Primula, and Aconitum. The region has a four-month growing season during which grasses, sedges and medicinal herbs grow abundantly and support a host of insects, wild and domestic herbivores, larks, and finches. The nearby Kyongnosla Alpine Sanctuary has rare, endangered ground orchida and rhododendrons interspersed among tall junipers and silver firs.

The region lacks permanent human settlements, though sizable military camps personnel guard the borders on both sides. A small number of nomadic Tibetan graziers or Dokpas herd yak, sheep and pashmina-type goats in the region. There has been intense grazing pressure due to domestic and wild herbivores on the land. Yaks live in those parts, and in many hamlets they serve as beasts of burden. The region around Nathu La supports many endangered species, including Tibetan gazelle, snow leopard, Tibetan wolf, Tibetan snowcock, lammergeier, raven, golden eagle, and ruddy shelduck.

Feral dogs constitute a major hazard in this region. The presence of landmines in the area causes casualties among yak, nayan, kiang, and Tibetan wolf.

The avifauna consists of various types of laughing thrushes, which live in shrubs and on the forest floor. The blue whistling thrush, redstarts, and forktails are found near waterfalls and hill-streams. The mixed hunting species present in the region include warblers, tit-babblers, treecreepers, white-eyes, wrens, and rose finches. Raptors such as black eagle, black-winged kite and kestrels; and pheasants such as monals and blood pheasant also nest in the region.

Economy

Up to 1962, before the sealing of the pass, goods such as pens, watches, cereals, cotton cloth, edible oils, soaps, building materials, and dismantled scooters and four-wheelers crossed to Tibet through the pass on mule-back. Two hundred mules, each carrying about 80 kg (175 lb) of load ferried goods from Gangtok to Lhasa, taking 20 to 25 days. Upon return, China exported silk, raw wool, musk pods, medicinal plants, country liquor, precious stones, gold and silverware to India. The Marwari community, which owned 95 percent of the 200 authorized firms, conducted most of the trade in those days.

To facilitate cross-border trade, the two countries have set up trading marts at Sherathang in Sikkim (6 km (4 mi) from Nathu La) and Rinqingang in Tibet (10 km (6 mi) from Nathu La) for the purposes of customs and checking. Trading transactions take place Mondays through Thursdays from 07:30/11:00 to 15:30/19:00 IST/Beijing Time (03:00 to 13:00 UTC). The trading season starts on 1 June and continues through 30 September, when snowfall and extreme weather render the pass unfit for travel. A total of 100 traders and sixty trucks carrying goods have permission to operate from either side of the border.

While China allows unrestricted cross-border trade, India has placed restrictions on the commodities exported and imported. Exports from India include agricultural implements, blankets, copper products, clothes, cycles, coffee, tea, barley, rice, flour, dry fruits, vegetables, vegetable oil, molasses and candy, tobacco, snuff, spices, shoes, kerosene oil, stationery, utensils, wheat, liquor, milk processed product, canned food, cigarettes, local herb, palm oil and hardware. Chinese exports to India include goat skin, sheep skin, wool, raw silk, yak tail, yak hair, china clay, borax, butter, common salt, horses, goats, and sheep. India also placed restrictions on traders, with permits only given to those who had been Sikkimese citizens before the kingdom merged with India in 1975.

The re-opening of the pass has already stimulated the economy of the region and bolstered Indo-Chinese trade. Before the pass reopened, almost all the Indo-China trade went through the port of Tianjin more than 4,000 km (2,500 mi) away. With the opening, that distance has been shortened to 1,200 km (745 mi). Figures released by the Tibet Autonomous Regional Bureau of Commerce show that in the fifty one days of trading in 2006, US$ 186,250 worth of trade passed through Nathu La.

Pilgrims from Tibet may be able to make a pilgrimage to the Rumtek monastery, one of Buddhism's holiest shrines

Sino-Indian trade has increased since Nathu La's opening. The pass offers Chinese companies access to the port of Kolkata (Calcutta), situated about 1,100 km (700 mi) from Lhasa, for transshipments to and from Tibet.

On the Chinese side, 7,000 tourists visited Yadong county in 2006 and brought in 1.67 million yuan (US$ 216,000) in revenue. On the Indian side, only citizens of India can visit the pass on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, after obtaining permits one day in advance in Gangtok. The pass would be particularly useful for pilgrims visiting monasteries in Sikkim such as Rumtek, one of the holiest shrines in Buddhism. For Hindus, the pass reduces the journey time to Mansarovar lake from fifteen to two days.

Some traders in India fear that Indian goods will find a limited outlet in Tibet, while China will have access to a ready market in Sikkim and West Bengal.

The trafficking of wildlife products such as tiger and leopard skins and bones, bear gall bladders, otter pelts, and shahtoosh wool into India has become a major concern of the Indian government. The Indian government has undertaken a program to sensitize the police and other law enforcement agencies in the area.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Chung, Tan (ed.). Across the Himalayan Gap: An Indian Quest for Understanding China. Gyan Publishing House, 1998. ISBN 8121206170
• Carrington, Michael. "Officers, Gentlemen and Thieves: The Looting of Monasteries During the 1903/4 Younghusband Mission to Tibet." Modern Asian Studies 37(1) (2003): 81-109.
• Fatma, Eram. India China Border Trade: A Case Study of Sikkim`s Nathu La. KW Publishers Pvt Ltd, 2017. ISBN 978-9386288639
• Jacob, Jabin T. "The Qinghai-Tibet Railway and Nathu La-Challenge and Opportunity for India." China Report Chung-Kuo Tu`Ng Hs̐ưun 43(1) (2007): 83.
• Jayanta Kumar Ray, and Prabir De. "Workshop on India-China Trade and Transport Cooperation, India and China in an Era of Globalisation." Essays on Economic Cooperation. New Delhi: Bookwell, 2005. ISBN 9788185040905
• Kochhar, Geeta, and Snehal Ajit Ulman (eds.). India and China: Economics and Soft Power Diplomacy. Routledge India, 2020. ISBN 978-0367335540

External links

All links retrieved May 17, 2023.

• Nathu La Pass on Google Maps.
• Trading Heights Times of India, July 6, 2006.

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Nathu La  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Nathu La"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.