Suspension of LoC trade, bus service worries Kashmir

With Pakistan unilaterally deciding to suspend trade and bus service between PoK and J&K, stakeholders in the state are a worried lot.

Pakistan on Friday decided to suspend the ‘Paigam-e-Aman’ bus service between Chakan-Da-Bagh (J&K) and Rawalakote (PoK) for the time being. Earlier, on Thursday, Pakistani authorities refused to allow trucks from India carrying goods at the same point, in the backdrop of tense bilateral relations following ceasefire violations in which two Indian soldiers were killed.

President of the LoC Traders Association, Mohammad Tariq Khan, termed the decision as unfortunate. “The decision to suspend the trade is the internal policy of the two governments and I can’t comment on this issue. But yes, we traders will definitely be the biggest sufferers,” Khan told Deccan Herald.

He said business of over 650 traders is at stake “and if the trade is suspended they will have to bear huge financial losses.”

Former President of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Shakeel Qalandar, during whose tenure the trade started in 2008, said: “We have been trying for the last so many years that the two countries should come closer. The only way out to decrease the tension between the two is to engage in dialogue and this cross-LoC connection was one of the biggest CBM.”

Qalandar, an ardent supporter of opening the trade routes, said: “This trade wasn’t giving any profit to traders. But they (traders) had given their consent in the hope that it will work as the greatest CBM and reduce tension between India and Pakistan.”
Qalandar, a renowned industrialist, blamed the national media for creating war hysteria.

“National media has sensationalised the issues in the last four or five days. The issues should be left to two governments instead of the media deciding what to do next.”
The Peoples Democratic Party said the decision was a bad news for the people of J&K.
“We always hold this trans-LoC connection as part of the resolution of Kashmir. It is a set back for the resolution of Kashmir,” PDP Chief spokesman Nayeem Akhtar told Deccan Herald.

Pakistan and India had agreed to facilitate travel across the LoC by providing entry permits to divided Kashmiri families in 2005.

Both countries started bus services between Uri, Kashmir-Muzaffarabad, PoK on April 7, 2005, for families to reunite and truck service in October 2008, for businesses to flourish.