Indian media highly appraise reopening of India-China border trade

Indian media on Friday highly appraised the reopening of the border trade between China and India through Nathu La Pass after a standstill of 44 years, saying the reopening will further improve the Sino-Indian relationship.

The two countries on Thursday formally reopened the border trade through Nathu La Pass, which links Sikkim state of India and the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China. About 200 Indian pressmen covered the event.

The Times of India said in an article titled "Past buried, new dawn at Nathu La" that India and China on Thursday took a Himalayan step on the road to peace and friendship at Nathu La.

The Pioneer, in an article titled "Trade gets red carpet welcome at Nathu La", said that history was made on Thursday when India and China reopened the famed Silk Road for border trade after 44 years.

"This is a red letter day for both India and China, and with the border reopened, relations between the two countries are expected to reach a new high," The Pioneer quoted Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling as saying.

In an article titled "Nathu La Pass reopened: 'Important step forward' in advancing friendly relations between India and China" , The Hindu reported the whole process of the event.

The paper quoted Sikkim Chief Minister Chamling as saying, "Let this trade route build trust, confidence and wisdom in the consolidation of ever flourishing relations between India and China."

He said, "People from both countries will stand to witness this event as the harbinger of flourishing trade, deeper understanding, wider cooperation and durable friendship between the two emerging world powers from Asia."

Indian Foreign Secretary said to The Hindu, "It is a good confidence-building measure...This is something which can only improve the atmosphere in which we can tackle some of the difficult problems."

An article published in The Asian Age titled "Silk Route reaffirms old ties" depicted the vivid brotherhood story between the Chinese and Indian armies when the pass was reopened.

The slogan of the 50s, "Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai (Indians and Chinese are like brothers), which was clouded by the 1962 India- China dispute, came back to memory at the reopening of the Nathu La Pass on Thursday, The Asian Age said.

The throwing open of the famed Silk Road on Thursday also saw a thawing in relations between the Armies of the two Asian neighbors. Moment after the over 4,000-meter-high pass was formally declared open, scores of Chinese officers and soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) crossed over the barbed wire fence and set foot on Indian soil. "I am thrilled to be freely talking to my Indian counterparts and having tea with them," The Asian Age quoted a PLA officer as saying.

"It is like Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai here," a senior Indian Army commander said.

Chinese Army officers were seen taking photograph alongside Indian soldiers. "This is unique, and we all feel very good at exchanging pleasantries," said M. Pillai, a commander of the Indian Border Road Organization, a unit of Indian Army.

It was an unusual sight as army officers of the two countries shook hands and embraced each other irrespective of the language barrier, the Asian Age remarked.

For some time, the India-China border simply melted away. As photographers and TV camerapersons jostled for space, suddenly, Chamling found himself on Chinese territory, being ushered into a tent to meet the officials there. And, soon, the uniforms of the PLA and the Indian Army mingled freely. There was much handshaking and hugging, The Hindu reported.

Nathu la, in fact, hold a lesson for South Asia as a whole. Borders should become meeting points of ideas, people and goods, rather than dividing lines. The opening of the Nathu La Pass may well initiate the much required project of creatively interpreting South Asian borders, The Indian Express remarked.

Source: Xinhua