Opening trade routes will help in K-resolution: CM

SRINAGAR: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today said though the present geopolitical situation was not conducive for the opening of the traditional trade routes to Central Asia through J&K, throwing them open would play a big role in the resolution of the Kashmir issue.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti at the International Buyer-Seller Meet in Srinagar. Amin War

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 17

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today said though the present geopolitical situation was not conducive for the opening of the traditional trade routes to Central Asia through J&K, throwing them open would play a big role in the resolution of the Kashmir issue.

Mehbooba said the opening of the Silk Road connecting the region with the world was important as Jammu and Kashmir had been known as the gateway to Central Asia. She said the geostrategic conditions of the region had always been important for developing close connections between this region and Central Asia. The connections, she said, influenced the culture, cuisine, social and economic aspects in the state.

Mehbooba was talking to the media after inaugurating a three-day 7th International Buyer-Seller Meet, organised by the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre here today.

She stressed the importance of opening all such routes to the outside world, pointing out that such a meet was a new beginning. She also referred to the opening of the cross-LoC Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road that was once considered “impossible”.

Earlier, inaugurating the meet, Mehbooba hoped that J&K would open up to the world as an international trading destination through land routes, realising its geopolitical situation as part of a peaceful region.

She said two dry ports were being set up in Jammu and Srinagar to get the goods from the state to the international market in a hassle-free manner. She said with such an easy mode of transportation, the agricultural and horticultural produce from the state would get a quality international market.

Describing the meet as a milestone in the promotion of the crafts of the state, Mehbooba said she was confident that such events would build trust between the business communities of the state and outside and also mark the beginning of the establishment of J&K as a major international trading centre.