Landslides triggered by heavy rain cut off large parts of northern and eastern Sikkim, including Nathula pass, while efforts were being made to restore connectivity, officials said on Friday.
"Indian yatra to Kailash and Manasrovar is an important part of China-India people-to-people and cultural exchanges... The two sides agreed that a total of 350 yatris in seven batches would take part in yatras to Xizang through Nathula Pass this year," the spokesperson of Chinese embassy in India said.
It will be the dawn of a new era in Sino-Indian bilateral ties tomorrow when border trade between the world's two most populous nations resume through the famed Nathula pass after a gap of over four decades.
The long-awaited Sino-Indian border trade through the Nathula Pass in East Sikkim will resume next month.
A total of 750 pilgrims have been selected through a computerised draw for the upcoming Kailash Manasarovar Yatra in Tibet, marking the resumption of the pilgrimage after a five-year gap. The Yatra's resumption is seen as an attempt to normalize India-China relations, which were strained by the eastern Ladakh border standoff. The pilgrimage will begin in June and continue until August, with pilgrims traveling in five batches via the Lipulekh route and ten batches via the Nathu La route. The selection process was deemed "fair, computer-generated, random, gender-balanced" by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), which organized the pilgrimage.
India's ambassador to China is on a rare visit to Tibet to make preparations for the opening of a new route through Sikkim for Indian pilgrims to travel to the holy site of Kailash-Manasarovar which was agreed during last month's visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India.
Disclosing this, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said the finance ministry has agreed to release additional Rs 100 crore for this purpose.
A team of the Central Pollution Control Board, which visited the fabled Silk Route in 2007, a year after it was reopened for cross border trade between China and India, found that expansion of the trade route was disturbing the ecosystem of the area. "Reopened with an aim to boost trade between China and India, ongoing expansion of one of the world's highest navigable roads is in progress without any precaution of the possible environmental impact," the Board said.
Patil may discuss with the state administration the issue of deployment of central paramilitary forces along the state's borders with China and Nepal.
A camp bed is kept for him and his boots are polished and uniform kept ready every night. The sheets are reportedly crumpled every morning and boots muddy by evening.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to China on May 26.
A second road linking Tsomgo lake and Nathula border pass with Gangtok -- christened as 'Narendra Modi Marg' -- was officially inaugurated by Sikkim Governor Ganga Prasad.
Sitharaman had a brief conversation with Chinese soldiers during her maiden visit to the Nathu La border post in Sikkim.
The tourists were returning from Nathu La pass and Tsomgo (Changu) Lake on Friday evening when snowfall in the region blocked roads, leaving over 300 to 400 civil vehicles stranded at various points on Jawahar Lal Nehru Road, East Sikkim District Magistrate Kapil Meena said.
India and Chinese troops on Saturday exchanged sweets and greetings at 10 border posts along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) including in eastern Ladakh to mark the New Year, officials said.
Marking a historic occasion, Nathu La, the famous Himalayan pass at 14,500 feet on the Sino-India border in Sikkim reopened after 44 years this morning for trade between the two neighbours.
The Border Defence Cooperation Agreement with China needs closer scrutiny, says Rup Narayan Das.
Like millions of people across the world, the year 2020 had dealt me irreplaceable losses and the lowest of blows. Like I have always done at such junctures, I had sought the refuge of the mountains. I wanted to end the year on a high, to show the finger to life, says Sumit Bhattacharya after a memorable journey to North Sikkim.
China on Monday opened the second land crossing in Tibet via Nathu La to allow the first batch of Indian pilgrims undertaking the arduous Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra, in the latest confidence-building measure between the two neighbours.
"Our worry is that a small mistake, an accidental exchange of fire at night, might lead to an unintended escalation," a senior officer confessed
The Paytm employee, who tested positive for the contagious disease with flu like symptoms on Wednesday, came in touch with 91 people in Gurgaon, an official said, citing his counterpart in the suburban town.
The 1971 war reaffirmed the importance of inspirational senior leadership in battle and heralded the emergence of a new fighting class amongst officers and men of India's armed forces.
'She has to get the funds, cut through bureaucratic flab, speed up modernisation, ensure planned acquisitions stick to timelines, make organisational changes and ensure the military is capable of performing the task that it is given,' says Brigadier S K Chatterjee (retd).
