ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: One of the positive outcomes of the last year quake was the opening of six entry points across the Line of Control (LoC) but Kashmiri traders have yet to reap the benefits of free flow of goods between the divided regions of Jammu and Kashmir as the trade agreement was put on ice for the last seven months.
Pakistan and Indian had formally agreed in April last in New Delhi to allow trading of those items mostly agriculture produce, embroidery products etc., freely across the LoC to help the earthquake devastated people to stand again on their feet.
A senior official told Dawn that Pakistan had already compiled a list of items in consultation with the Kashmiri traders for free trading with the Indian held Kashmir. These lists include raw products, mostly food items.
The official said that initially no value-added products would be allowed for trade under the proposed trading treaty between the two Kashmir regions.
The value-added products were not included in the list of proposed tradable items on the pretext that it would be difficult for both sides to differentiate between Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri products.
When contacted Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam confirmed to Dawn that the list prepared in consultation with Kashmiri traders has been sent to the Indian held Kashmir government. “We have not received any response so far in this regard,” she added.
When asked about the possible response in this regard, the spokesperson replied that she would check it.
However, she added Pakistan has already forwarded the final list of items to Indian held Kashmir.
The official said the proposed list of items considered in the first meeting of foreign secretaries of the two countries to be imported from Indian held Kashmir included Kashmiri carpets and shawls, lentils (moong), apricot, almond, coriander, saffron, etc. The proposed list of items to be exported from Azad Kashmir included marble, apricot, rice, onion, garlic, etc.
Under the proposed treaty, commercial trucks are expected to start plying on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route following the finalisation of lists of products for trading, added the official.
Currently, the local products of these regions were traded directly but through the sea routes or air to India and Pakistan main cities from where these products were transported to the respective Kashmiri areas on both sides of the Line of Control.
The decision to start a truck service for trade and the launch of a Rawalakot-Poonch bus
link was taken at the summit talks between President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi in April last year.