NEW DELHI, March 22: Indian Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jairam Ramesh has said trade across Line of Control (LoC) will start within three months.

He said this during the foundation-stone-laying ceremony of the International Trade Centre at Pampore in South Kashmir.

The businessmen in the occupied Kashmir have welcomed the statement with the hope that both parts of Kashmir will benefit from this trade links.

The tribune reported that the Indian government had given a list of 14 items, including fruits and handicrafts, to the Pakistani government from which Islamabad had approved nine items for the trade across LoC.

Meanwhile, the businessmen in Jammu had said that no steps had been taken to facilitate them in opening trade routes across LoC in Jammu region.

President of chambers of commerce and industries Jammu Ram Sahai said, “Though we welcome the move of the opening of a trade route, but we also want that trade routes in Jammu should also be opened”.

“We not only raised the issue of opening of various trade routes of Jammu with Chief Minister of occupied Kashmir Ghulam Nabi Azad, but we also discussed the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Both of them assured us that they would take up the issue with the Pakistan authorities to start trade across LoC in Jammu region also,” he said.

A delegation from Azad Kashmir Chambers of Commerce is expected to visit Jammu later in the month to discuss the modalities in opening the trade routes from the Jammu region, the daily said.—APP