Gangtok, April 7: Trade through Nathu-la will resume on May 1 as scheduled, ending the winter break and quelling fears of an “adverse” communication from Delhi especially in the backdrop of China voicing its concern over Tibetan protests in India.

R.B. Subba, the state commerce and industries minister, confirmed that the border trade would begin three weeks from now. “We have sent a file to the chief minister’s office for approval. There is no adverse communication from the Centre so far which means that we can go ahead with the scheduled date,” Subba told The Telegraph this morning.

The director of state commerce and industries department, Ujwal Gurung, said the Union commerce ministry notified last year that trade would take place from May 1 to November 30 “The dates remain the same and the pass will open as scheduled,” he added.

However, travel passes for the traders are yet to be issued from the East district collector’s office, which has been authorised for the purpose. The passes are likely to be issued after the chief minister approves the file.

“We are awaiting communication from the state government. However, we will distribute the application forms in advance so that there is ample time for verification and other related work for issuing the passes,” said Vishal Chauhan, the East district collector.

The verification of the forms is done by the Intelligence Bureau after the district collector’s office forwards the papers to them.

Last month, Tibetans from the Northeast and north Bengal had marched from Siliguri to the border town of Rangpo in East Sikkim with an intention to enter China through Nathu-la to protest against alleged Chinese atrocities on their countrymen there. They started an indefinite hunger strike at Rangpo for not being allowed to enter Sikkim. The protesters withdrew the agitation after an emissary of the Dalai Lama asked them to call it off.

Following the incident, Sikkim had closed Nathu-la for tourists. The mountain pass was reopened for sightseeing three days ago. The government also kept a close watch on the Tibetans movement at various checkposts on the Jawaharlal Nehru Marg that leads to Nathu-la, about 50km from Gangtok.

The authorities in Sikkim might face a problem in scrutinising the application forms for passes, as a large number of people engaged in the border trade are of Tibetan origin.

The border trade through Nathu-la was reopened in July 2006, 44 years after its closure during the Chinese aggression in 1962. The reopening of the border pass was seen more as a confidence building measure between the two countries to broaden the scope of co-operation and friendship than for business purposes.