In this photograph taken on July 10, 200

In this photograph taken on July 10, 2008 a Chinese soldier stands guard on the Chinese side of the ancient Nathu La border crossing between India and China. When the two Asian giants opened the 4,500-metre-high (15,000 feet) pass in 2006 to improve ties dogged by a bitter war in 1962 that saw the route closed for 44 years, many on both sides hoped it would boost trade. Two years on, optimism has given way to despair as the flow of traders has shrunk to a trickle because of red tape, poor facilities and sub-standard roads in India's remote northeastern mountainous state of Sikkim. AFP PHOTO/Diptendu DUTTA (Photo credit should read DIPTENDU DUTTA/AFP via Getty Images)