Tidbits from Southasian region

Southasian Briefs India/Tibet  
'Trade through the border'
The Nathula pass between Sikkim and Tibet reopened at the beginning of May, a month earlier than last year. It is now set to stay open through November, two months later than last year. At the opening ceremony, Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh described the trading-time extension as a "small beginning" in the effort to start full trading between China and India through Nathula. "But we still have a long way to go," he cautioned. Ramesh went on to say that priorities now include upgrading the trade-related infrastructure on the Indian side of the pass, and coming to a new agreement with China that moves "from border trade to trade through the border". In addition, Ramesh noted, the list of tradable goods needs to be expanded. With the current list being based on traditionally traded items from a half-century ago (before Nathula was closed off, following the 1962 war), India's current exports are almost exclusively confined to rice.

Sri Lanka Out, OCHA
In late April, the Colombo government indicated that it wanted the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to leave the island's most troubled areas. OCHA originally set up its Sri Lanka office in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami to oversee rehabilitation work, but has since remained to assist with communities that have been adversely affected by the ethnic conflict. Now the government is accusing OCHA of "overstaying" its mandate, and has ordered it to vacate the country's north and east. OCHA officials had reportedly floated the possibility of acting as a human-rights monitor, even though some UN officials say that the agency is unequipped to do so.