Gangtok, May 25: Members of the parliamentary standing committee on commerce today assured the Sikkim government and the business community that they would do whatever necessary to upgrade infrastructure at Nathu-la and expand the list of items for border trade.

“Traders (in Sikkim) need not worry. The country stands by them and the Union commerce and industries ministry will definitely come forward to improve the infrastructure on the border,” said E. Ponnuswamy, the leader of the five-member committee which visited the border pass at 14,400feet and the Sherathang trade mart.

Regarding the demand for the expansion of the present list of items, which are permitted to be traded through the pass, Ponnuswamy said the government had already been told about the matter and the “committee is alive to the demand”.

The standing committee was on a two-day tour of Sikkim to acquire a first hand information on the infrastructure required for the border trade between Sikkim and the Tibetan Autonomous Region. The Nathu-la border was reopened on May 19 for the trade after the winter period.

The MPs, who arrived yesterday, were accompanied by a team of officials of the commerce and industries ministry and the Rajya Sabha secretariat. The customs commissioner for West Bengal and Sikkim was also present during the tour with his deputies.

Officials of the state commerce and industries department, led by secretary M.G. Kiran and director Ujjwal Gurung briefed the MPs on the trade. Vishal Chauhan, divisional commissioner (East), was also present during the Parliamentary team’s tour. After his visit to the Nathu-la border, Ponnuswamy told reporters that the committee would go all out to help Sikkim in the trade.

A meeting held between the committee and the stakeholders in Gangtok yesterday discussed several issues and demands related to the trade. The trading community was represented by S.K. Sarda, president of Sikkim Chamber of Commerce and Anil Kumar Gupta, general secretary of India-China Traders Association of Sikkim. Both said the response to their demands was positive.