China has in principle agreed to the proposal of reopening trade through Shipki La in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh during the recent visit of its foreign minister Wang Yi to India, according to a statement issued by the state government on Sunday.

Himachal Pradesh already has road connectivity up to Shipki La through Rampur Bushahr and Pooh, which makes it possible to set up the necessary base camps and other facilities for the Yatra, the earlier communication sent to the Union government had stated.

“This breakthrough was made possible due to the personal intervention of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who had written to the Union government, urging revival of the historic Indo-Tibetan trade route,” following which the Union government “formally took up the matter with China, leading to a consensus to restart the trade,” the statement said. The trade had been suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Himachal government’s consistent efforts to resume trade with China through Shipki La (Kinnaur) have yielded encouraging results. The government of China has agreed in principle to the proposal during the recent visit of Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi to India,” it added.

The state government will now take up the matter with the Union Commerce Ministry to complete the required procedures.

The Chief Minister had pointed out that Shipki La, which was once part of the Silk Route and was recognised as a border trade point under the India-China bilateral agreement of 1994, had played an important role in cross-Himalayan economic and cultural exchanges.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar has informed the state government that the Government of India had already started discussions with China on reopening border trade through all three designated routes, Shipki La in Himachal Pradesh, Lipulekh in Uttarakhand and Nathu La in Sikkim, the statement issued here said.

The statement further said that apart from trade, the state government had also received a positive response on resuming the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through Shipki La.

The state government had also highlighted that the Shipki La route, which connects through Gartok towards Darchen and Mansarovar, is shorter on the Tibetan side compared to other options.

Himachal Pradesh already has road connectivity up to Shipki La through Rampur Bushahr and Pooh, which makes it suitable to develop the base camps and other support facilities for the Yatra, the earlier communication to the Union government had mentioned.

In a letter to the chief minister, the external affairs minister conveyed that after five years, the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra had resumed through Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand and Nathu La Pass in Sikkim, and that discussions with China were underway to explore the possibility of adding Shipki La as another route.

The state government said it is confident that these steps will not only revive traditional border trade but will also open up new opportunities for tourism, cultural exchange and economic growth in Himachal Pradesh.