jeypore
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NEW DELHI/MIRPUR: India and Pakistan are due to start trading today (Tuesday) across the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Kashmir.
Meanwhile, the Indian Election Commission (IEC) has banned the participation of ministers and politicians in the flagging-off ceremony, saying the participation will violate the model code of conduct, which came into force on Sunday with the announcement of the assembly elections in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK).
The decision to allow limited trade, taken only last month, symbolises attempts to solve the Kashmir dispute by creating soft borders allowing free movement of goods and people.
On Tuesday, 15 trucks with specified gift items would leave from each side to cross the LoC through the two designated routes.
While the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route will become functional on Tuesday, there will only be a symbolic launch on the second route between Poonch and Rawalakot, which would formally open for trade on October 30.
Under the agreement, trucks will cross the LoC at the two designated points twice a week and no customs duty would be imposed on the traded goods. The traders on both sides would be conducting business through barter, as no banking facility has been established for the purpose so far.
A total of 21 items have been approved for import and export by the Joint Working Group of India and Pakistan, while two facilitation centres on either side of the LoC have been established to regulate trade.
The Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route, in disuse for the last six decades, was the regions only surface link with the rest of the world before the partition. The route also makes business sense, as it is all-weather and shorter than the only road coming from India, which snakes through the Hindu-majority Jammu region and is often blocked by snow in winter.
Indian politicians: Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh was to flag off the first truck at Salamabad in Uri to cross the LoC and receive the truck to be flagged off from Chikhoti on the other side by Pakistans Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. But, the IEC has asked all the central ministers to stay away.
Jairam Ramesh spoke to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N Gopalaswami in Hyderabad on Monday afternoon to give his permission, pointing out that waiting at the other end would be Pakistans foreign minister and it would be a major embarrassment for India if the ceremony were underrepresented. However, the CEC refused to give permission.
After Rameshs failure to get the CECs nod, Raj Bhawan in Srinagar is making efforts to allow IHK Governor NN Vohra to flag off the first truck, arguing the governor is not a politician and would only be performing his administrative duties by completing the formality. The IEC had not granted permission until late in the night. agencies/staff report
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
Meanwhile, the Indian Election Commission (IEC) has banned the participation of ministers and politicians in the flagging-off ceremony, saying the participation will violate the model code of conduct, which came into force on Sunday with the announcement of the assembly elections in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK).
The decision to allow limited trade, taken only last month, symbolises attempts to solve the Kashmir dispute by creating soft borders allowing free movement of goods and people.
On Tuesday, 15 trucks with specified gift items would leave from each side to cross the LoC through the two designated routes.
While the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route will become functional on Tuesday, there will only be a symbolic launch on the second route between Poonch and Rawalakot, which would formally open for trade on October 30.
Under the agreement, trucks will cross the LoC at the two designated points twice a week and no customs duty would be imposed on the traded goods. The traders on both sides would be conducting business through barter, as no banking facility has been established for the purpose so far.
A total of 21 items have been approved for import and export by the Joint Working Group of India and Pakistan, while two facilitation centres on either side of the LoC have been established to regulate trade.
The Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route, in disuse for the last six decades, was the regions only surface link with the rest of the world before the partition. The route also makes business sense, as it is all-weather and shorter than the only road coming from India, which snakes through the Hindu-majority Jammu region and is often blocked by snow in winter.
Indian politicians: Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh was to flag off the first truck at Salamabad in Uri to cross the LoC and receive the truck to be flagged off from Chikhoti on the other side by Pakistans Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. But, the IEC has asked all the central ministers to stay away.
Jairam Ramesh spoke to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N Gopalaswami in Hyderabad on Monday afternoon to give his permission, pointing out that waiting at the other end would be Pakistans foreign minister and it would be a major embarrassment for India if the ceremony were underrepresented. However, the CEC refused to give permission.
After Rameshs failure to get the CECs nod, Raj Bhawan in Srinagar is making efforts to allow IHK Governor NN Vohra to flag off the first truck, arguing the governor is not a politician and would only be performing his administrative duties by completing the formality. The IEC had not granted permission until late in the night. agencies/staff report
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
