After Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary recently said the cross-LoC routes in J&K benefitted divided families and trade, political parties and trader bodies have urged the government to restore the routes as a confidence-building measure aimed at reviving people-to-people contact and economic activity in border areas.
Choudhary — during his visit to Uri in Kashmir — advocated for the restoring the cross-LoC routes. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had issued orders to suspend the LoC trade in J&K in April 2019. The action was taken as the government received reports that these trade routes were being misused by Pakistan-based elements for funnelling illegal weapons, narcotics and fake currency.
Imran Nabi Dar, spokesperson of National Conference (NC), said that any move to reopen the trade routes is welcome. “People-to-people contact is our consistent stand. The LoC trade should be revived. A senior leader of RSS had recently stated that there should be people-to-people contact. The reopening of the cross-border LoC routes can be a confidence-building measure that will also help the economy of the region.”
The trade was allowed through two trade facilitation centres located at Uri in Baramulla and Chakkan-da-Bagh in Poonch. The trade took place four days a week and was based on barter system and zero-duty basis.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had found that a significant number of cross-border trade units from the Pakistani side were being operated by persons closely associated with banned terrorist organisations involved in fuelling terrorism. As per the government statement, investigations had revealed that some individuals, who have crossed over to Pakistan and joined terror organisations have opened trading firms in Pakistan.
President of Poonch-Rawlakote Traders Union, Abdul Razaq, said that the government should consider re-opening of the trade routes that were shut. “We understand that there were security concerns but our security forces and intelligence are well-equipped to take care of these concerns.