India Under Pressure!

[Ali.009]

In one of the most seminal events in the history of the Subcontinent, the Indian authorities under pressure from the Kashmiris has decided to open trade with Pakistan. This effort by the New Delhi should not be seen as a Confidence Building Measure (CBM) taken by the Indian government towards Pakistan for peace. Open trade across the Cease Fire Line in Kashmir is the demand of all Kashmiris in Indian Occupied Kashmir.

India buckles to Indian Occupied Kashmir: Accepts CFL trade

In fact the current agitation which has seen the largest number of demonstrators in the history of Kashmir is geared towards one major goal–the opening of the Cease Fire Line. The Kashmiris of Indian Occupied Kashmir can sell their goods in Rawalpindi which a couple of hundred kilometers away, instead of hauling it all the way to Dlehi which is a thousand miles away. In Pakistan the Kashmiris can can a better price for their goods, in Delhi the fruits and vegetable rank at the lowest end of the price ladder.

Pakistan and India agree on modalities for LoC trade

* Committee declines to give timetable for opening Srinagar-Muzaffarabad, Poonch-Rawalakot trade routes By Iftikhar Gilani


NEW DELHI: Trade across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir moved a step closer as Indian and Pakistani officials completed talks on a framework on Monday.
A brief statement issued after a daylong meeting of the Joint Working Group on Cross-LoC Confidence Building Measures in the Indian capital did not say when trade routes would be opened. But a top Indian official said last week that India would allow trade between the two parts of Kashmir to begin in October.

Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari would make a final decision on the framework and the schedule in a meeting in New York later this week, official said.

Indian Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary TCA Raghavan led the Indian delegation, and Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs Additional Secretary for South Asia Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry led the Pakistan delegation. Commerce, customs and home ministry officials attended the meeting.

“We have finalised the modalities at the meeting. We decided to submit details of the modalities to our respective political leadership for the final decision and announcement,” said Chaudhry after the meeting.

The two sides also finalised the list of items to be traded on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalkot routes.

“We now have a common list carved out from the lists that we had exchanged. It is an improved list and contains many more products,” he said, but refused to elaborate.
Asked when the trade will begin, he said the ‘political masters will decide’ on that.
Chaudhry denied Pakistan was resisting trading fresh fruit. “I strongly deny this impression. Fruits form a bulk of tradable items from Kashmir. There is no meaning of trade without fruits,” he added.

Chaudhry said cross-LoC trade was different from the normal trade taking place between India and Pakistan through Wagah-Attari border in Punjab.

“This is not regular import and export trade. There is a zero-tariff regime and this trade is aimed at restoring contacts between divided parts of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a measure to raise comfort levels of Kashmiri people and restore their relations,” he said.

Sources privy to the development said the trade is likely to begin next month. During the meeting, the two sides fine-tuned logistical issues including the items to be traded, customs matters and security aspects, they said.

In July, foreign secretaries of the two countries had exchanged lists of commodities for trade and each side had agreed to indicate the items they were willing to receive.
A delegation of chambers of commerce from Muzaffarabad is expected to visit Srinagar and Jammu next month to discuss aspects of the trade, the sources said.

The meeting of traders from the two sides is essential, as they have to engage in trade, they said.

Chaudhry also said no other confidence-building measures were discussed at the meeting.
Currently, India and Pakistan allow only a passenger bus service twice a month across the LoC.

 

[bhangra12345]

In fact the current agitation which has seen the largest number of demonstrators in the history of Kashmir is geared towards one major goal–the opening of the Cease Fire Line. The Kashmiris of Indian Occupied Kashmir can sell their goods in Rawalpindi which a couple of hundred kilometers away, instead of hauling it all the way to Dlehi which is a thousand miles away. In Pakistan the Kashmiris can can a better price for their goods, in Delhi the fruits and vegetable rank at the lowest end of the price ladder.

Pakistan and India agree on modalities for LoC trade

* Committee declines to give timetable for opening Srinagar-Muzaffarabad, Poonch-Rawalakot trade routes By Iftikhar Gilani


A brief statement issued after a daylong meeting of the Joint Working Group on Cross-LoC Confidence Building Measures in the Indian capital did not say when trade routes would be opened. But a top Indian official said last week that India would allow trade between the two parts of Kashmir to begin in October.

The two sides also finalised the list of items to be traded on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalkot routes.


Chaudhry said cross-LoC trade was different from the normal trade taking place between India and Pakistan through Wagah-Attari border in Punjab.

“This is not regular import and export trade. There is a zero-tariff regime and this trade is aimed at restoring contacts between divided parts of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a measure to raise comfort levels of Kashmiri people and restore their relations,” he said.

It would be interesting to know the modalities of how these two bold parts are being worked out, i.e. how do you prevent say some trader in Pakistan trading with another trader in India (both non-kashmir) from taking advantage of this zero-tariff regime. I do not think any of the countries will agree to setting up of customs between Kashmir and themselves. So how do you square the circles?

I can think of some things like certificates of origin (which will become the traders bureacratic nightmare) and ilk or severe restriction on the products, i.e. exclusive Kashmir products. The problem will be if a trader in muzaffarabad tries to send products to India, he will have a very easy route and viceversa with zero tariff. whether this will be allowed? India has given huge excise exemptions to Kashmir, so does this mean that say Tata investing in Kashmir can have access to both Indian and Pakistani markets for free. Interesting scenarios but will have to wait till the entire setup has been publicized.

 

[Vanguard_786]

This is indeed a welcome sign. However Kashmir locally produces fruit. Industrial product and manufactured goods are almost non existant save for sports goods like Kashmiri willow cricket bats !
kashmiris are very astute businessman (the ones that I know) . They can sell goods produced in other parts of India to Pakistan.
Question then is, are Pakistanis willing to buy Indian goods through the backdoor ? Remember Kashmir is one of the most corrupt states of India and goods will transit through to Pakistan making many middle man (politicians and their ilk) very rich !!

 

[jeypore]

In Pakistan the Kashmiris can can a better price for their goods, in Delhi the fruits and vegetable rank at the lowest end of the price ladder.

How could this be possible, since pakistan rupee is inflanery compare to India rupee. I would think the Pakistanie side would benefit on this deal by sending there side of the fruits to get a better price.

Though, trade will be a good idea, but it will not solve the problem of lessing the military personal, hence the borders will have to be more heavily monitor. In terms of Kashmire this does not look like a solution that will help it cause, but it will help the region in terms of economic basis.