Srinagar, Oct 21 (Inditop.com) Trade across the line of control (LOC) in divided Kashmir completed one year Wednesday, with traders from the two sides celebrating the “anniversary”.
The trans-LOC trade was flagged off Oct 21 last year by Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra at the Salamabad trade facilitation centre near the border town of Uri in Baramulla district in north Kashmir.
Trading, though smooth over the past year, has been low key as it is purely on a barter basis — goods sent from one side of the LOC are not paid for in cash, but are traded for with other items.
“We have no modern trade facility or practices like bank accounts, telephones, squaring off of accounts. We are continuing a medieval trade practice, exchanging goods,” said a Srinagar trader.
State industry and commerce minister Surjeet Singh Slathia, along with members of the the local traders’ federation, chamber of commerce and industry and office-bearers of Salamabad-Chakoti traders union met at the Salamabad trade facilitation centre to celebrate the anniversary and discuss measures to make the cross-LOC trade more meaningful.
Following the invasion of the Valley by tribals in 1947, the historic Muzaffarabad-Srinagar trade link was snapped as the focus shifted to the Srinagar-Jammu highway, the only road link between the Valley and the rest of the world.
The decision to re-open the cross-LOC trade was taken by India and Pakistan as part of confidence-building measures between them.
Dates, praying mats, spices, dry fruits, oranges and Peshawari slippers are the main goods reaching here from Muzaffarabad while vegetables, handicrafts and apples are the principal items sent from India.
