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| Abandon inhibtions for promoting trade and travel | | | Despite series of talks between India and Pakistan during the last over two years the level of mistrust and mis-understanding may have declined but it is yet to vanish.With success of each bilateral parleys fresh misgivings creep in resulting in fresh tension.No doubt since 2005 two border routes in Jammu and Kashmir have been re-opened for trade and travel but the continued hicuups in attempts at promoting hassle free people to people contact and the level of trade have suffered stagnation. The two sides have hammered out a ceasefire agreement in 2003 and since then the rate of gun and mortar fire on the Indian border villages and pickets has registered marked decline.And since then people living in the border villages of Poonch, Rajouri, Akhnoor, Samba, R.S. Pura, Kupwara and Uri have enjoyed peace and have been spared of regular migration to safer areas on account of heavy firing by the Pakistani troops on the border villages in Jammu and Kashmir.What seems to have aggravated the level of mistrust is the absence of banking facilities between the two sides forcing traders to bank on the barter system.Possibly it is the result of constraints of the barter system that the cross-LOC trade has not registered significant progress.
Another irritant is that Pakistan has not allowed direct flights from Jammu and Kashmir to either Islamabad,or Lahore or Muzaffarabad.And rigtly the Jammu Kashmir Chief Minister,Omar Abdullah,has raised this genuine issue by demanding that Islamabad lifts the ban on international flights from Jammu and Srinagar. Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah has said it was strange that Pakistan was allowing passenger flights over its air space from all Indian states except Jammu and Kashmir but expressed hope that improvement in relations between the two countries would remove this bottleneck. "This is strange that our neighbour is allowing flights from any state of India over its air space except Jammu and Kashmir. We hope better relations between the two countries will help remove this bottleneck so that the people in J&K get benefited equally," Omar has said. He expressed hope that ties between India and Pakistan would be further strengthened so that there was neither any reason nor any problem for Pakistan to deny international flights from Srinagar over its air space to other countries. It would be a great service to people of Jammu and Kashmir if Omar Abdullah succeeds in motivating Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh,on raising this issue with Islamabad. Once Pakistan allowed its air space to be used for inernational flights for people in Jammu and Kashmir it may be yet another major step for promoting cordial ties required for reducing trust deficit. One does not find any political rationale or sense behind the Pak move to ban international flights from Jammu and Srinagar.. Equally there is no sense in blocking banking facilities between India and Pakistan and between Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan held Kashmir. Possibly Islamabad is under an illusion that by allowing Pak air space for international flights from Srinagar and Jammu and by okaying opening of banking facilities between the two Kashmirs Pakistan would be held responsible for having accepted the status quo.Such fears are baseless when Islamabad has okayed steps needed for promoting trade and people to people contact between Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan occupid Kashmir. Let Islamabad initiate added measure for promoting hassle free trade and travel between Srinagar-Jammu and Muzaffarabad. |
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