Engaged with China to resume border trade: India

India on Thursday said it remained engaged with China to facilitate the resumption of border trade through designated transit points.

The border trade between the two countries was stopped in view of the eastern Ladakh military standoff in 2020.

"We have remained engaged with the Chinese side to facilitate the resumption of border trade through all the designated trade points, namely Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand, Shipki La Pass in Himachal Pradesh, and Nathu La Pass in Sikkim," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.


It is learnt that India and China are at an "advanced stage" of negotiations to resume direct flight services between the two countries soon.

In the last few months, India and China have initiated a number of measures to repair the bilateral ties that had severely nosedived following the deadly clashes between the two militaries in June 2020.

Last month, India announced the resumption of issuance of tourist visas to Chinese nationals.

The military standoff in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020 and the clashes at the Galwan Valley in June that year resulted in a severe strain in ties between India and China.

The face-off effectively ended following completion of the disengagement process from the last two friction points of Demchok and Depsang under an agreement finalised on October 21 last year.