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| Euphoria over cross-LOC trade evaporating | | | NIRBHAY JAMMUAL
It looks that the reopening of two routes,Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawlakot,for cross-LOC trade has been done in haste.It was needed but before the routes were opened for trade the basic infrastructure required for hassle-free import and export of items should have been developed.Yes,the routes were opened to satiate the desire of people of Kashmir who had become angry when the supply of goods on the Jammu-Srinagar highway got disrupted during the two-month long agitation over the land row.Not only the political and separatist leaders but the people started demanding opening of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad routes for trade.Businessmen had hoped that the opening of the route will usher in a safe passage for importing and exporting goods.Orchardists and those dealing in the export of fresh and dry fruit thought that the new trade route could ensure them better returns and they could not face exploitation by the middlemen in Delhi and Mumbai.And when the route was thrown open apple growers were the first to export over 7,000 boxes of fresh fruit to Muzaffarabad.Over three weeks have passed the exporters have no information as to what happened to their fruit boxes.
They have no information on the rates at which the fruit boxes were purchased.They do not know anything whether there were buyers for their fruit or not.It is so because till date these fruit exporters have not received any payment.They cannot pick up the phone and dial someone in Muzaffarabad for knowing the fate of their export items because there is no telecommunication link.There are no banking facilities.Some of the potential exporters are so much disillusioned that they have decided to suspend exporting fruit and other items to Muzaffarabad.Both Delhi and the establishment in Srinagar wanted Pakistan to give its nod to the opening of the two routes for trade.Neither Delhi nor Srinagar examined the inborn difficulties that could crop up in the export and import transactions.The two sides besides Islamabad did not study the need for developing the basic infrastructure.What the two sides considered was the security aspect of trade.Accordingly,security pickets,screening machines and scrutiny of documents were given more weightage than building the communication network and the banking facilities.The Jammu and Kashmir Bank had sought permission from the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India for setting up a couple of branches in Muzaffarabad so that buyers nd sellers on either side of the LOC could deposit their money in the Bank branches which could have facilitated the credit and debit system.
There is nothing wrong if Prime Minister,Dr Manmohan Singh,has assured patron of the PDP,Mufti Mohd.Sayeed,during a recent meeting in Delhi,that more routes would be thrown open for traffic and trade.But before such a step was taken the Governments on eiher side of the LOC should develop the facilities required for ensuring problem-free trade transactions between the two sides.No doubt the banking transactions between India and Pakistan are yet to be established and in the light of this development both Islamabad and Delhi need to take in hand measures for developing the communication channels besides the banking facilities which could help traders on either side of the LOC to promote trust.If such measures were not taken in hand the opening of cross-LOC trade could be treated simply an election gimmick.Till the system undergoes a sea change people,especially traders fruit cultivators, would be forced to shed their euphoria that was displayed when the first convoy of trucks left Srinagar and Sopore for the Kamman post in Uri. |
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