India and Pakistan have taken another historic step together to improve bilateral relations. For the first time ever, the two countries have allowed movement of trucks through the Attari-Wagah checkpoint on the India-Pakistan border in Punjab.

Under the agreements, trucks from both countries will be allowed to cross the international border and unload their cargo at the customs house of the other country. So far, cargo sent by road was unloaded near the border of the country of origin from where it would be carried manually by porters across no-man’s land.

Larger volumes of cargo were sent by sea from Kandla to Dubai and then to Karachi. With trucks now being allowed cross-border movement, large volumes of goods can be sent via road itself. This will be a far more cost-effective option and a time saving one as well. The decision will provide a boost to bilateral trade.

It is a pity that the Pakistani government has not responded with much enthusiasm to the truck initiative. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was expected to be present to receive the first consignment but neither he nor his ministerial colleagues showed up. 

The cross-border truck initiative needs the support of governments on both sides if it is to succeed and an apathetic response on the part of the Pakistani authorities will not be helpful.

While it will benefit traders and trucking businesses as well as consumers in the two countries, porters, who have now been driven out of work, are understandably angry. But the truck initiative will open up new opportunities and the government must help the porters identify these.

A beginning has been made in Punjab. It could be replicated at other points along the border. Jammu and Kashmir will be hoping that the truck initiative will be extended across the Line of Control (LoC) as well.

Apple consignments take 36 hours – in good weather – to reach Delhi from Srinagar. It will take Kashmiri fruit merchants around six hours to send this by road across the LoC to markets in Pakistan. Opening the trans-LoC road to truck cargo will provide a boost to Kashmir’s economy.

There are concerns of course that the trucks will be misused for carrying weapons but this could be addressed by better monitoring of the cargo. India should take the lead in making a cross-LoC truck initiative a reality.