With border trade through Nathu La pass expected to be around Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) per annum after the Sino-Indian agreement on reopening of the route, traders in Sikkim are reviving their links with their counterparts based in Tibet.

"The Sino-Indian agreement on the reopening of the border trade through Nathu La would enable Sikkim to transact business worth at least Rs 500 crore per annum via this route," the Sikkim Chamber of Commerce general secretary Ghanshyam Agarwal said in Gangtok on Monday.

Old traders of Sikkim, who had lost their trade links with Tibet after closure of the route through Nathu La in 1982, were now trying desperately to get back in touch with their business links in places like Yathung, Pharidscng, Gyantse, Sigatso and Lhasa in Tibet, he said.

Congratulating Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for achieving this 'breakthrough', which was bound to give a major boost to the trade and business activities in this tiny hill state, Agarwal said the reopening of the trade route through Nathu La was one of the two main demands made by the chamber during Vajpayee's recent visit to the state.

"The SCC thanks the prime minister for fulfilling this demand," Agarwal said.