Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on Wednesday suspended cross-Line of Control (LoC) trade as a mark of protest over the “civilian killings” in the Valley in the past 26 days.
“The Kashmir situation is grave. Civilians have been targeted. Trade will resume only after the situation normalises. The traders’ move is a mark of solidarity with the people of Kashmir Valley,” Ajaz Mir, a trader and also member of the Joint Chamber of Commerce, told The Hindu over phone from PoK.
In Jammu, Tanveer Ahmad, custodian of cross-LoC Trade at Chakan-da-Bagh, said, “Trade was suspended by the Pakistani side. No reason was furnished.”
Several loaded trucks scheduled to travel to PoK were stopped after the communication across the LoC. It has been informed “no trucks will move from PoK into J&K for the whole week.”
The suspension has brought trade traffic to a halt at two cross-LoC trading points, the Uri-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalakote routes, which were thrown open in 2008 as major confidence building measures.
21 items tradedTwenty-one items, including eatables, garments and handicrafts, are traded on the twin routes on which around 50 trucks ply for four days a week.
Around Rs. 1,496.96 crore trade volume was registered at the Salamabad and Chakan-da-Bagh trading facilitation centres between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2016.
The Srinagar-based trading body, Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA), welcomed the traders’ move across the LoC. “We appreciate the move of traders.”
“The time demands that the trade remains suspended till a dialogue process starts to address the Kashmir problem,” KEA chief Yasin Khan said.
