SRINAGAR: A 19-member trade delegation from Pakistan-administered Kashmir crossed the Line of Control (LoC) yesterday afternoon for trade talks with their counterparts in the Jammu and Kashmir state.
Built as a major confidence-building measure (CBM) between India and Pakistan, the trade delegation’s visit would set rolling the commercial ties between the two parts of divided Kashmir, after a hiatus of over six decades.
The delegation representing various trade organizations of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan Kashmir, was received by the members of Chamber of Commerce and Industries and officials of the state government at Salambad, near the border town of Uri.
The trade facilitation center is already in place at Salamabad, where the infrastructure for the cross LoC visits by the members of the divided families has been set up in 2005. The state government has now set up facilities for the exchange of goods at Salamabad, the list of which has already been finalized and exchanged between the two countries.
Apart from meeting the trade bodies of Kashmir and Jammu, the Muzaffarabad delegation is expected to hold talks with the separatist leaders here provided the government approves such a meeting. The Muzaffarabad delegation led by Zulfikar Abbasi, president traders federation, hoped that the “trade ties between the two parts will usher in peace in the region and further improve relations between the two countries.”
