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| Steps needed for restoring cross-LOC trade and travel | | | A fresh political conflict has emerged between India and Pakistan which has the potential of scuttling the cross-LOC trade and travel.In fact right from 2005,when the people to people contact was resumed between the two sides,the corss-LOC trade and travel have become part of the confidence building measures aimed at reducing trust deficit. What is funny is that Government agencies across the LOC in Jammu and Kashmir have reacted,without any convincing reason,hauling of a truck driver who had been found smuggling large quantities of brown sugar.Voices kept on multiplying from across the LOC demanding that the truck driver be released.Instead of expressing regrets for what the POK truck driver was indulging in the authorities retaliated by taking 27 J&K truckers as hostages.This prompted New Delhi to summon Pakistan Acting High Commissioner and conveyed its strong displeasure over the Pak retaliation.Instead of feeling sorry for the incident in which a Pak trucker was arrested for having smuggled large quantities of brown sugar agencies across the border suspended cross-LOC trade on both Salamabad-Chakoti and Chakan-da-Bagh-Rawlakot routes.
And the stand-off between the two sides continued for the fifith day motivating the two Foreign Ministries to work for resolving the matter through diplomatic channels. it was surprising that Pakistan chose to hold hostage trans-LoC trade and travel which were bringing immense humanitarian benefits to the people of Jammu and Kashmir for the sake of persons indulging in drug trafficking.This is what the India side conveyed to the Pak diplomat
A senior J-K government official here said the cross-LoC trade, which takes place four days a week —from Tuesday to Friday — with bartering facilities located at Salamabad in north Kashmir's Baramulla district and Chakoti, on other side of the LoC, has been suspended.And the PDP supremo,Mufti Mohd.Sayeed has taken a right stand on the issue when he said that peace process should not become hostage to any isolated unlawful act or event.He has expressed concern over the suspension of trade and travel across the LOC.He has stated that both India and Pakistan need to display maturity for resuming cross-LOC trade and travel which have been the corner stone for the ongoing confidence building measures.
On one hand Pakistan is pleading for resumption of the process of dialogue for resolving bilateral problems,on the other it has been triggering one problem or the other which has strained the bilateral ties. Earlier,the cross-LOC trade and travel were hit by repeated ceasefire violations by the Pakistani troops and after these violations ended people to people contact between the two sides was revived alongwith cross-LOC trade.But within less than two months both these activities were suspended thereby adding new dimensions to the already fragile relations between New Delhi and Islamabad.Even of Government agencies across the LOC had been peeved over the arrest of one trucker for smuggling large quantities of brown sugar these agencies could have requested for sending back the trucker so that he could be punished as per Pak law.It seems that since Nawaz Sharif has assumed has been sworn in as Pakistan Prime Minister agencies in Pakistan,including the Army,have been adopting offensive postures against New Delhi.How long one can expect New Delhi to keep on tolerating all these pinpricks which include moral and material aid to militants operating in Jammu and Kashmir and in aiding infiltration of terrorists for escalating the level of violence in Jammu and Kashmir ?Even those who matter in New Delhi have no knowledge about it.Hence India needs to follow a tit for tat policy as was done when Pak troops resorted to repeated ceasefire violations.This is the only way to restore cross-LOC trade,travel and peace on the border.
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