KAMAN BRIDGE, India: Trucks loaded with a variety of merchandise rolled over this bridge from Pakistan on the Line of Control (LoC) into the Indian side of Kashmir yesterday to mark the historic launch of border trade across the divided Himalayan region.
People had gathered in large numbers on both sides of the bridge on the LoC that divides Kashmir to witness the event dubbed as a major Kashmir-related confidence-building measure.
A fleet of 14 trucks from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, carrying goods that were approved in talks between officials of the two countries was the first to roll over this bridge into the Indian side after 61 years.
The fleet was received warmly by Kashmiri traders and the local residents who had assembled to witness the event. In the afternoon, 13 trucks carrying Kashmir’s famed apple and other goods crossed Kaman Bridge into Pakistan-administered Kashmir to an equally warm welcome.
Jammu and Kashmir Gov. N.N. Vohra flagged off the caravan of trucks to mark the launch of the cross-border trade. As the trucks started the journey from Salamabad, an enthusiastic crowd and smartly dressed schoolchildren jostled to have a better view of the fleet.
Vohra described the opening of the trade route as an “important confidence-building measure aimed at normalizing India-Pakistan relations.”
He said: “The people of Jammu and Kashmir would benefit from this measure as it would open up new vistas of economic progress in the region.” Vohra said a bus service launched in April 2005 has proved a success and the beginning of the cross-border trade is yet another milestone in strengthening India’s relations with Pakistan.
Security was tight with even fruits subjected to security checks. “The items were scanned in X-ray machines,” police officer Faisal Qayoom said.
The president of Kashmir Fruit Growers Association, Ghulam Rasool Bhat, said: “Today we are sending the sweet Kashmir apple as the first consignment. This is sure to sweeten relationship between the two neighbors. Trade between the divided parts of Kashmir will further improve relations between the countries and lead to a peaceful resolution of the bitter problem.”
Muzahar Hussain Naqvi from Muzaffarabad, who drove the first truck onto Kaman Bridge, said: “I never imagined I would get a chance to drive the first truck on this road. I have an emotional attachment with today’s event as my grandfather used to drive lorries on this road before the partition (of India) in 1947.”
The opening of the trade route also means people in Muslim-majority Kashmir can now breathe easy after a recent economic blockade by Hindus of the southern Jammu region led to the valley being cut off from the rest of India. Thousands of tons of fruits grown in Kashmir rotted as trucks waited for days on the Jammu-Srinagar Highway for the end of the blockade. The opening of the trade route has been a key demand of Kashmiri separatists.
