19 items approved for trade between Kashmirs

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's vow of making the India-Pakistan border irrelevant has begun to be realised.

The harsh tones of Pakistani leaders on 'Kashmir first, trade later' notwithstanding, Islamabad has given clearance to trade of 19 items through the Srinagar-Muzzaffarabad link.

Also, families divided by the Line of Control (LoC) have another route of talking to each other now. After prolonged negotiation, a Srinagar-based English daily "" Greater Kashmir "" was permitted to open its news bureau in Muzzaffarrabad, the capital of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), last week.

The newspaper bureau has become a reality in spite of India and Pakistan sticking to the principle of reciprocity on allowing mediapersons in each other's country. Sources said the move was aimed at bridging the divide between the people of two Kashmirs.

However, as a senior leader from Kashmir put it, "Islamabad has shown courage in allowing a Kashmir newspaper in PoK despite criticism of the government for tardy relief for the quake-affected PoK areas in comparison to the better deal for the Kashmiris affected across the LoC."

Sources said the approval for the newspaper's operations had come from the "highest quarters in Islamabad and New Delhi."

In addition, Pakistan has agreed to allow trade in 19 items from Jammu and Kashmir on the proposed truck service that the two countries had earlier agreed to start on the Srinagar-Muzzafarabad road. The road, which had been shut after the 1948 Indo-Pak war, was reopened two years ago. A bus service on this caters to members of divided families living across the LoC.

The truck service is likely to start in three months, highly placed sources said.

Kashmir's business community had sent a list of 46 items for consideration of Indian and Pakistani authorities. This list included the best of Kashmir "" carpets, handicrafts, fruits, fruit products, flowers, marble, granite, sapphire and even Kashmiri spices, most notably the chilly powder and 'masala cake'.

Interestingly, while Pakistan is keen to get apple from Kashmir, the absence of a mechanism within the South Asian region on trade in this fruit has prevented it. However, the approved list includes flowers, handicrafts, fruits sans apple, Kashmiri masala, saffron, walnut and almond.

From across the LoC, the trucks could come laden with cotton clothes, dry fruit, moong dal, and a pre-Partition favourite, Pakistani rock salt.

Jammu and Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry secretary general Abdul Hamid Punjabi said the truck service would be a dream come true for businessmen from the Valley. "There is a sense of expectancy among the trading community. It takes two hours to send fruits to the Rawalpindi markets. It takes two days to send them to the mandis of Delhi."

He, however, said they were yet to get the official word on the proposed trade. "Also, we are awaiting approval for exchange of business delegations of two Kashmirs," he said.