Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
1

** Study says trade across LoC only CBM between Pakistan, India that directly benefits Kashmiri people
Feb 2011
Staff Report*

ISLAMABAD: Speaking at the opening session of ‘Discussion Papers on Jammu and Kashmir: Trade Across the Line of Control (LoC)’, panelists said that trade and commerce across the Line of Control (LoC) can **minimise tensions between India and Pakistan and enhance inter-dependence, which could lead towards conflict resolution. **

**The panelists were of the view that trade across LoC was the only confidence-building measure (CBM) between Pakistan and India which directly benefited the Kashmiri people. Experts were of the view that people-to-people contact and trade had contributed positively on both sides of Kashmir. **

National Assembly Standing Committee on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Chairman Shahzada Mohiuddin said that people on both sides of the LoC were “quite happy after the start of the intra-Kashmir trade and it has provided an opportunity to the people across LoC to meet each other”. He said that plebiscite was the need of the hour, which could enable both sides to prosper. He asked the authors of the papers to send them to the Federal Ministry of Kashmir Affairs.

One of the panelists Dr Hassan Askari Rizvi said that a practical effort was being made to determine how to engage in conflict management and conflict resolution. He was of the view that if trade and commerce increased, tension and conflict could be minimised. This creates stakeholders on both sides and allows greater human interaction on the both sides of the LoC, Rizvi said.

He said that the papers had tried to review the movement of goods and people across the LoC and have gathered useful information, especially on trade and its impact. Ayesha Saeed and Arif Kamal, the authors of the papers, were of the opinion that intra-Kashmir trade was not just another CBM, it was in fact the first-ever CBM which directly benefited the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Inter-dependence rather inter-connection could benefit people across the LoC, they said.

They said that both the sides should benefit equally from the trade. Logistical and other hindrances could harm the intra-Kashmir trade. They were of the opinion that it was a long overdue step in the right direction to ease suffering of the people on both sides of the LoC. Zulfiqar Abbasi, while presenting his perspective, said that the conflict of Kashmir had turned the place termed “paradise on earth” to hell with extreme poverty, untapped economical potential and dependence on others”.

He pointed out hindrances and problems faced by the traders, elaborating that trade was restricted only to 21 items and two days a week. He said that hopes were high but on ground it was “too little “ for an economic revival of the people of the area. He demand that a multi-entry trade pass of at least two years should be issued to traders on both sides of the LoC.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\02\09\story_9-2-2011_pg7_17

i always wondered why the two countries never traded more with each other, importing/exporting items to each other more rather than trying to import the same things from countries half way across the world would benefit both

2

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

oh right anything that would minimize indo-pak tensions and lead to better relations/progress nobody wants to talk about :naak:

3

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

^right.. because it's useless.. just split kashmir and stfu.. everyone.. stfu :)
do the trade across punjab gujrat rajasthan sindh and all that..

4

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

hypothetically, god forbid, lets have some thug kill your brother/sister next to your door, and then we'll see how much you would like to do the "trade" with the thug... until and unless its something that you "have to" through out of the window because you don't have enough "place", and instead you choose to "sell" that thing to the thug... thats all the trade between india and pakistan untill india stops killing people in Kashmir and stops sponsoring terrorists throughout pakistan.

5

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

i wish that same compassion was there for fellow pakistanis that are dying by the truck loads every day b/c of suicide bombers and thug shootings in pakistan itself. unfortunately even for that, India is to blame, it's always going to be a blame game, of course never look inwards.

6

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

If you open up the LoC for trade, everything other than legitimate goods will be passing through. Unless the Kashmir issue is amicably resolved, opening up the LoC will only lead to more problems.

7

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

either you never read PA forum, or you are deliberately being ignorant, otherwise there is no way that you dont know what is the compassion and sentiments that we have towards our brothers and sisters dying not only in suicide attacks, but drone attacks and target killings etc... which is clearly proved with this raymond davis (or whatever his real name is) case, there is no further prove left that its sponsored by the bigger thug than bharat, that is usa.

visit PA sometimes, and refresh your knowledge

8

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

so you're blaming not only bharat but the united states as well for all this? was the 12 yr old kid also monetarily supported by the big thugs bharat and usa?

9

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

oh right, every heard of a saying "gehoon kay sath sath ghun bhee pista hay"? no??? go figure

10

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

what does that mean? not everybody is an expert at urdu/hindi. if it's anything insulting, then don't bother

11

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

Wanna minimize Pak-India tension? Give the Kashmiris the right to self-determination as promised by Nehru.

12

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

ask this to the politicians.
if it was the 40s then that would be so easy, but now issues have become complicated, all the horrible events/incidences that have been caused by all three sides have altered the situation plus so many have died including the soldiers, nobody is willing to give in on their stance.

if you want to talk about this further than go to the "raytheon...." thread, the debate can go on and on about the same stuff over and over again. it's an online thread not much can happen. til something happens with the peace talks between all three sides, the trade between the two countries seems feasible and something that would benefit both countries, it seems like the most practical thing to do at the present time.

13

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

trade like this won't do any good to the 'tensions'.....which are caused by much bigger issues...trading is not something which is going to clear up the mistrust and doubts ........ it will be just temporary.......anything happens politically...trade will go down the drain.......thats why no seroius and large level trading takes place..

I don't know wats wrong with our people........but the water issue is much bigger than the kashmir one... pakistan is suffering a hell lot...and will suffer even more if thats not taken care of......kashmir is just like in stalemate...no real effect on pakistan..

14

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

^truly honest answer, thank you

but i think trade can happen between the two countries and i see it as the perfect way to build trust and a stronger relationship and eventually something positive can happen, they've been in the same rut for 60 some odd years.

15

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

naa, thats not something insulting. don't worry...

16

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

Nomi... water issue will mutually inclusive if we talk about kashmir getting resolved...
and there is no way that water issue be resolved without kashmir being free... just look at the other water treaty Pakistan and India have... no treaty will work until india stops acting like a thug...

17

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

^ but you would know that the water thing started recently..........and its not being contested by pakistan at all........

you are right that water issues is very closely linked with the geographical location of kashmir........but hey...it was working somewhat ok till recently...which means it could be worked out or anything......

18

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

A push to open up trade along the India-Pakistan border

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/story/image/slideshow_top.gif

PHOTOS
Previous Next

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2011/02/19/PH2011021903828.jpg

Pakistani trucks line up at the border crossing into India. They are allowed to drive over the border, but then must stop and have their goods transferred to Indian trucks. (Photos By Karin Brulliard)

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2011/02/19/PH2011021903833.jpg

Pakistani porters unload boxes of tomatoes just arrived from India. Until 2007, they had to carry goods across the border on their heads.

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/story/image/slideshow_bot.gif

By Karin Brulliard
Sunday, February 20, 2011

IN LAHORE, PAKISTAN
Pakistan and India share language, culture, history and an 1,800-mile border; they are South Asia’s largest economies. What they barely share is trade - officially, at least, because of a quasi-blockade that dates from partition in 1947 and all but chokes off commerce under a dizzying web of rules.

The hurdles have spurred off-the-books trade, much of it shipped through third parties in such places as Dubai, where products are relabeled as imports from other lands - journeys that result in markups of 40 to 70 percent. Only recently did Pakistan make its first export to India by truck: a load of gypsum rock.
But economists, business groups and U.S. officials are pushing to loosen at least the most maddening restrictions, and they are hopeful that the two nations’ decision two weeks ago to resume peace talks might help. Free trade, they say, would benefit both India and Pakistan and might help to ease tensions whose gravity is reflected in rival nuclear arsenals.

“Economics 101 dictates that countries’ major trading partners should be their neighbors,” said Shuja Nawaz, director of the South Asia Center at the Washington-based Atlantic Council. “To change the dialogue from a zero-sum game to a positive, win-win outcome for both India and Pakistan, you need to start with the low-hanging fruit of opening trade and tourism.”
For a Pakistani economy in tatters, experts say, a freer flow of goods from India would allow cheaper access to products and raw materials, and could open up India, with its enormous population, to exports of Pakistan products such as cement.

Some research indicates that bilateral trade - now at about $2 billion a year, less than 1 percent of each country’s total trade - could swell to 20 to 50 times that under more liberal policies. Estimates of illicit trade range from $2 billion to $10 billion a year.
But for now, progress creeps. India admits all Pakistani products, but Pakistani firms complain that stringent standards and paperwork make many exports unviable. Pakistan allows a slowly expanding list of Indian products that now includes artificial kidneys, camphor, parachutes and 1,931 other items - but not Fair and Handsome cream, which is instead legally exported from Kolkata to landlocked Afghanistan, via the Pakistani port of Karachi, then smuggled back into Pakistan.

Travel restrictions are another barrier. Businessmen in both countries say they wait months for visas that allow travel only within major cities in the other country. That prevents visits to rural factories or farms, and business travelers are often tailed by intelligence agents.
Then there is the logistic muddle of land trade at the one border crossing, midway between Lahore and the Indian city of Amritsar. The twice daily cargo train involves an engine switch: A train carrying Pakistani exports, for example, must stop mere miles into India for the Pakistani engine and conductors to be replaced by Indian ones before continuing inland. With so few trains, exporters wait months for cargo space.

Trucks have only eight hours each day to cross, because each afternoon the two-lane road is overtaken by Indian and Pakistani border guards’ theatrical gate-closing ceremony. Even then, trucks must stop just past the frontier, where porters transfer the goods to local trucks. That is an advancement: Before 2007, trucks were barred from crossing at all, and laborers lugged cargo across the boundary on their heads.

19

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

The little existing trade often falls victim to what look like political whims. In December, cargo trains sat idle for three weeks while Indian conductors awaited the visas that allow them to park just inside Pakistan.

That same month, spiraling onion prices prompted India to drop import tariffs and standards for the staple, triggering a surge in Pakistani onion exports. But Pakistan abruptly halted overland sales amid concerns about a domestic shortage.
**
“I had 400 trucks stuck on the other side,” said trader Rajdeep Uppal, vice president of the Amritsar Exporters Council. “For a week these onions were standing there, and eventually they had to be sold within Pakistan for half the price. Who loses? Both the countries.” **
** Tensions aside, scenes of goodwill abound along the border. Pakistani and Indian train conductors sip tea and gripe about red tape together. Satanam Singh, a turbaned Indian driver - wearing a regulation yellow vest stamped “Indian Driver” - beamed as laborers unloaded his ginger on the Pakistani side. Coming to Pakistan, he gushed, was delightful compared with Mumbai, where the language is different and people hostile. **
** “It is a strange feeling, like I am going to a strange land,” said a smiling Mohammed Zafar, a Pakistani whose vibrantly painted truck, brimming with dates, was about to make its virgin voyage across the Indian frontier. “I am very happy.” **
Here in Lahore, just 20 miles from the Indian border, Khan’s shop was the pioneer in a winding lane of stores now crammed with Indian silk and cosmetics - all smuggled into Pakistan illegally.

He said he would welcome friendlier business relations, even if they lessened the luxury value of his stock. Even his Afghan smuggler, who stopped by on a recent evening, agreed, on grounds that it would lessen the need to bribe border officials.

Among some merchants, skepticism about trade prospects remains, with Pakistanis fearing that open trade would lead to a glut of cheap Indian imports. S.M. Akhter, a top Indian customs official at the border, said national security concerns must trump market demands.
But despite the tangle of rules, some trade is quietly rising. Tahir Habib Cheema, the top Pakistani customs official at the border, said he realized last year that truck exports from Pakistan were allowed, but that “status quo” and “fear” had prevented them. He decided to change that - without notifying his bosses.
A comedy of errors ensued. By Oct. 7, Cheema had found one willing exporter and one importer. After hiccups on each side, a meeting at the frontline was arranged.
All parties agreed, Cheema said - and then the truck would not start. Someone proposed pushing it into India, an idea that was nixed by border guards who said the pushers would need visas. Finally, another vehicle nudged the truck over the line.
**"This was something for the national cause,‘’ Cheema said proudly. Since then, he added, Pakistani trucks have exported $2.5 million worth of products to India. He expects that to escalate this spring, when the two nations open a dedicated truck passage. **
Correspondent Rama Lakshmi contributed to this report from New Delhi.
*http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/19/AR2011021903825_2.html :slight_smile:
*

20

Re: Trade across LoC can minimise Indo-Pak tension

no you are wrong. it was not working "ok" there is a history to it. there are dozens of incidents when india purposely blocked and released water in the rivers flowing down to pakistan from india. and dont tell me you are not aware of the dams and tunnels india is building/ has built to divert water and unlawfully use it, against the treaty that we have. of course pakistanis are involved in this, and this would not have been so easy for india to do without their traitorous intentions and help, but again, this will not be a possibility if the region is physically governed by pakistan.

and if something somehow has been working for sometime, it doesnt mean it will continue to work... environment and atmosphere changes, so do needs and actions...