What is the significance of the Nathu La in the North East Frontier Agency?

La means Pass. Nathu La is one of the three open trading posts between China and India. The other two posts are in Himachal and Uttrakhand at the trination junction. India sealed these three open trading posts after the 1962 Sino-India War. In 2006, Nathu La was reopened following numerous bilateral trade agreements to allow Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage to the Mansarovar in Tibet. Nathu La has also been designated a Personnel Meeting Point between the Indian Army and the PLA to improve relations. Nathu La was realized as a trading post in 1873 by the Deputy Commissioner of Darjeeling and in 1893 the Sikkimese monarchy signed a trade agreement with Tibetan rulers to increase economic exchange between the two nations. In 1903-04, Nathu La played a pivotal role in the British expedition to Tibet seeking to prevent Russian interference in regional affairs, especially Tibetan affairs. British Major Younghusband led a successful mission through Nathu La to capture Lhasa; Younghusband was the British Commissioner to Tibet. In 1957, the Dalai Lama used Nathu La to travel from Tibet to India to celebrate the 2,500th birth anniversary of Gauthama Buddha. The following year the son of the Chogyal of Sikkim, Jawal Lal Nehru and Indira Gandhi used this same pass to travel to Bhutan. In 1975, Sikkim acceded to India following skirmishes at Nathu La post the Suppression of the Tibetan Uprising in 1959 that saw waves of Tibetan refugees crossover into India and the 1962 Sino-India war. With Nathu La in India now, China did not acknowledge. Alike to the 1914 Shimla Accords in which China didn't acknowledge.