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Fifty trucks a day can’t improve Indo-Pak trade

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ndia and Pakistan have agreed to improve bilateral trade in a two-day meet of the commerce secretaries of the two nations, but sale and purchase of goods between the two is in a bad shape.

Traders say there are no banking and communication systems. As India and Pakistan are still to decide on the currency to be used for the cross-border trade, the traders still use barter. Some decide the exchange rates themselves.

For the past year, trade along two points, the Poonch-Rawlakot road at Chakan-da-Bagh and Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road at Salamabad, had closed down twice for two months each after the customs authorities prevented the import of various tradable and demanding items.

Of late, the police have also begun to focus on the traders. Jammu and Kashmir police chief Kuldeep Khuda said militants were using cross-border trade to generate funds and after this, traders are summoned frequently to police stations.

Asif Lone, a trader, said instead of posting men at the Salamabad trading point, the police summon them to Srinagar more than 130 km away.

Also, both the Indian and Pakistani armies have asked their governments to limit the number of goods trucks. Last February, the Pakistan Army had told traders to limit trade to 50 trucks a day. Then, the Indian Army asked traders in Srinagar and Poonch to limit business as it was beyond their capacity to manage the volume of trade. The Indian Army, however, suggested 100 trucks a day.

Again, in the absence of a dispute redressal mechanism, traders come to blows when they are allowed to meet once a year. Just last month, when the authorities allowed traders from the two sides to meet, Pakistani traders declared 29 Indian traders as defaulters. In a tit-for-tat reaction, Indians accused 18 traders from of cheating and sending ‘unworthy’ goods.

They started to fight in the presence of soldiers and officials. It was then decided to exchange the list of defaulters.

Last year, trade was suspended for two months when customs officers prevented import of Ajwain from Pakistan-administered Kashmir. They said the spice did not figure in the list of 21 items that the two sides agreed to barter.

Trade bodies say items that make brisk business are stopped abruptly. For instance, import of commodities such as garlic and ginger, which constituted a bulk of imports, was banned.

Coconut, banana and other South Indian fruits were barred from export because they were not grown in J&K. Pakistan also banned the export of green gram to J&K by saying that bulk exports shot up its prices in Pakistan.

Lahore-based traders forced their government to ban cardamom from being traded across the border. “For every kilo I pay Pakistani Rs 70 as duty and tax to import big cardamom from the Attari-Wagah trade post,” Mohammed Atif Butt, Managing Director of Lahore-based Pak-Afghan Impex said.

Since trade across the border has zero custom duty, Kashmiri traders incur losses by trading in these items.

Nazir Ahmad Punjabi, senior Vice-President of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), is still waiting for a hot line between the trade offices in Srinagar and Muzaffarabad.

He says there is no dispute resolution system. Mubin Shah, who formerly headed the KCCI, had asked the government to permit all items but ensure they are sold locally without affecting the Wagah traders.

This, in the long run, would pave the way for transit trade that could help people save on transportation.

Even though the chambers have almost lost interest, officials and a group of divided families are sustaining the trade by emotion. That is why, despite the odds, the volume of trade has seen an upward trend.

The Economic Survey for 2011 says until December 2010, the traders at Poonch exported items worth (Indian) Rs 134.27 crore and imported items worth (Pakistani) Rs 227.70 crore. It involved the going of 2,816 trucks and the coming of 2,907 trucks.

On the Uri front, the government says exports were worth (Indian) Rs 177.60 crore and imports (Pakistani) Rs 271.42 crore. It took massive vehicular movement—4,755 trucks coming and 4,572 trucks going to the other side of the divide.

Tehelka - India's Independent Weekly News Magazine
 
i don't understand the need to be "friends" with india!! we saw how they reacted to the mumbai drama i think its futile to think they can be our friends! we should just expect live & let live with them! ignoring them is the only option.
 
Ice_man, a trade is a trade. The more business we get more our economy will improve. If we just stick to business nothing will go wrong.
 
dont contradict yourself,you dont want friendship with india dont get hurt when an indian accept that

:what: i have no idea what u saying??? look its simple we want no business or friendship or anything to do with you! we want nothing to do with u period!
 
:what: i have no idea what u saying??? look its simple we want no business or friendship or anything to do with you! we want nothing to do with u period!

Who is We here ? GOP/Think-tank ? Or a Internet warrior :what:

Anyway, we want new markets hence we need to do trade, and yeah its not YOU who will decide anything its your gov. period!!

It will not affect us even if we do trade with pak or not!! It is just a (+) point which we can get if we can improve/increase the trade btw the two nations.

In both case's its win win situation for us . Atleast!
 
Who is We here ? GOP/Think-tank ? Or a Internet warrior :what:

Anyway, we want new markets hence we need to do trade, and yeah its not YOU who will decide anything its your gov. period!!

It will not affect us even if we do trade with pak or not!! It is just a (+) point which we can get if we can improve/increase the trade btw the two nations.

In both case's its win win situation for us . Atleast!

We need pakistan's natural resources and their market to sell our processed goods. :)
 
wats the harm in us being friends? anyone?

What's in it for India? List me some points.

All you can offer us are your raw materials and your markets. Not a thing more than that you can offer which would interest us.
 

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