On an average, Ram makes a profit of Rs 15,000-20,000 per trip and feels there is potential to develop this route. "We should be permitted to go beyond Shipki. We have contacts in other villages but these are drying up." He also discloses that his Chinese associates too wish to come to India. However, since Tibet is a sensitive issue and India has given refuge to the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetans, the reluctance of the Chinese government to issue permits to its traders is understandable.
An interesting aside to the ongoing trade is the manner in which roles have been reversed in the case of Tibetan carpets, which form an essential part of prayer rituals. Earlier, these carpets were imported into India by Kinnauri Buddhists. Now, with most of the master craftsmen settled as refugees in Dharamsala, they are being exported to Tibet and China. The historic Lavi fair at Rampur has its origins in the ancient trade when traders from Tibet came in large numbers with wool, sheep and silk. Even now, Tibetan goods are a huge draw. For instance, the Chiru, which resembles the goat, is reared in high Tibetan pastures and valued for its meat and wool. Or the pashmina wool, herbs and horses that are in great demand among Indians.
In the recent past, the Indian Kinnauris have planted their most valuable resource in Tibetan Shipki. A veteran trader reveals how he took hybrid apple saplings from India to Tibet at the request of his friend in Shipki. The demand has grown so much that Tibetans routinely ask Indian traders for these saplings.
Political boundaries and restrictions might deter the large traders but for locals in border villages, these are irritants that obstruct cross-border relations. For, if the officials try and stall trade at Shipki La, the villagers use other routes that have been in existence for centuries. Barter continues on alternate routes near Kaurik and Rishi Dogri, which doesn't get reflected in the official figures. Says Pasang of Nako village who has been to Tibet twice in 2004, "I went with other traders as I wanted to see Tibet and buy household items. Going through Shipki La is quite cumbersome because they do not permit us to go beyond Shipki village and that restricts trade possibilities. So I went through Kaurik and stayed in several villages for about a month." Kargyut Ringzing, who's also from Nako, is a veteran trader who has tramped the high passes for several decades. "Unless the two nations take steps to establish trade marts, streamlines taxes and take other policy decisions, this trade will soon be over," he predicts.
And that would spell doom for one of the oldest trade routes in the world.
