Kashmir, after 60 years India and Pakistan reopen trade route
New Delhi (AsiaNews/Agencies) - An historic day for India and Pakistan, which, 60 years after the war of 1947-48, have decided on a common agreement to reopen the line of demarcation, and restore the old "trade route," in the area bordering on Kashmir.
The area, at the center of a decades-old conflict between the two countries, has been closed for 58 years, and only in 2005 did talk begin of a partial opening at five different points, following the preliminary peace agreements signed the previous year. The road, which is more than 170 kilometers long, connects Sringar in Indian Kashmir with Muzaffarabad on the Pakistani side; the two sides are connected by the "bridge of peace," Aman Setu in the local Kashmiri language.
Although heavy security measures were in place, this morning a long line of trucks full of fresh and dried fruit and honey left Salamabad in Indian Kashmir, heading toward the border with Pakistan, to the acclamation of a crowd and the local authorities. From the other side, late this evening, should come vehicles shipping rice and salt.
The reopening of the trade route is an integral part of the 2004 peace agreement between Pakistan and India, both of which claim control of Kashmir; it constitutes another step forward for normalization of relations between the countries, although, in recent weeks, there have been skirmishes between the two armies along the border. Along the line of demarcation, train and bus routes have already been activated; reopening to private commerce could give a boost to the economy, with business that analysts estimate could reach about 6 billion dollars under a scenario of complete liberalization. Today's exchange of products, in fact, is seen as only the first step in a long process leading to the strengthening of bilateral trade.
This morning, the trucks leaving for Pakistan were decorated with flags and banners reading "Long live trade across the two sides." One businessman expressed the hope that more friendly relations can be established between the two nuclear powers of south Asia, once and for all. For India, moreover, the opening of the border would constitute an immediate means of access not only to the Pakistani market, but also to the basin of central Asia and the Gulf countries.
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