August 20, 2007	Monday	Sha’aban 6, 1428

NEW DELHI, Aug 19: Experts from Pakistan and India will meet on Monday to discuss modalities of a system for trucks carrying cargo to cross each others' country from the Wagah-Attari border, Afrasiab, Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan, told APP on Sunday.

The meeting will be held in Pakistan and all aspects of this matter would come under discussion.

At present, loaders are being used to shift cargo from an Indian truck to a Pakistani one and vice versa.

The trade sources said experts will discuss building of warehouses on both sides of the border and trucks will be allowed to move into each other's country for the loading and unloading of goods in the warehouses.

During the Pak-India trade talks held here on July 31 and August 1, both sides also discussed upgrading facilities on the Wagah-Attari border. It was decided to hold a Pak-India experts meeting on August 20 regarding it.

A joint statement issued on the conclusion of talks stated “both sides noted with satisfaction the initiative to allow cross border movement of trucks up to the designated points at Wagah-Attari for unloading/reloading of cargo. It was decided that the first technical level meeting to work out modalities would be held on 20th August, 2007 at the Wagah border on the Pakistani side.”

During the meeting, India made a presentation on the state of development of an Integrated Checkpost (ICP) planned to be developed at the Wagah/Attari border on the Indian side. Pakistan also briefed on the state of infrastructure and the proposed plan for development on its side.

It was decided to constitute a Customs Border Liaison Committee at the Attari-Wagah border which would be meeting once every two months to resolve operational issues at the field level.—APP