New Delhi, Aug. 10 -- If India and China are seeking a place to test whether cautious normalisation can evolve into durable cooperation, Nathu La is almost perfectly suited to the experiment. Reopened for border trade on August 1 after a six-year suspension, the pass high in the eastern Himalayas will not transform the economics of a relationship already worth more than $150 billion a year. Its significance is different. It can test whether two powerful neighbours can turn a sensitive frontier into a predictable space for regulated, reciprocal and locally useful exchange.

The macroeconomic paradox is evident. According to India's Department of Commerce, bilateral goods trade is valued at $151.10 billion for 2025-26, with Indian exports t...