Poonch (Jammu and Kashmir), May 9 (ANI): Cross border trade between India and Pakistan has been increasing and it is seen as a step towards increasing people-to-people contact. Despite a combined population of 1.4 billion people and thousands of years of shared history and culture, cross-border trade between India and Pakistan was paltry for many years – a legacy of three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947.
Basheer Ahmed Lone, the custodian of cross LoC trade at Chakan Da Bagh, Poonch, has hailed the initiative taken by the governments of India and Pakistan to increase cross border trade. “This is very good initiative taken by the Government of India and Pakistan.
This is a Confidence Building Measure (CBM) by the prime ministers of the two countries. The trade at the Chakan Da Bagh near Line of Control began due to this Confidence Building Measure and there has been an increase in the people to people contact,” said Lone, Custodian of cross-border trade. Liberalising heavily restricted trade and investment flows has become a driver of peace efforts between the neighbours, whose fragile relations were shattered when Pakistani militants attacked the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008.
Lone said that they would try to hold cross LoC meetings with an aim to increase the number of items in SOP (standard operating procedure). Lone further said, “The trade will increase. Currently we have 21 items in SOP. We will try to increase the number of items in SOP by conducting cross LoC meetings which will provide a boost to trade.” According to figures released by the Government of India there has been a 66 percent increase in trade with Pakistan last year.