Resume cross-LoC trade & bus service: Mufti to Shah

Our Correspondent

Srinagar, August 9

Former CM Mehbooba Mufti on Friday urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to resume cross-LoC (Line of Control) trade and bus service in Jammu and Kashmir. She said these would serve as significant confidence-building measures for the people of J&K and mark a step towards restoring normalcy in the region.

Raising the issue of traders participating in cross-LoC trade, Mufti claimed they were being served notices, demanding “tax payments on transactions that were non-monetary and tax-exempt at the time.”

The Cross-LOC trade between India and Pakistan had started back in 2008 in Jammu and Kashmir through two routes, but was halted in March 2019.

The Union Government had taken this decision after receiving reports that the Cross-LoC trade routes were being misused by Pakistan-based elements for funnelling illegal weapons, narcotics and fake currency, the Home Ministry had said in April 2019.

The trade was allowed through two trade facilitation centres located at Salamabad in Uri and Chakkan-da-Bagh, in Poonch. The trade was based on a barter system and conducted on a zero duty basis four days a week. Mufti stressed that the people of J&K had been adversely affected by the suspension of the Cross-LoC bus service and trade.

“While initiatives in 2005 and 2008 took shape during the UPA regime, it is crucial to acknowledge that the groundwork was laid by the NDA government under the Vajpayee ji’s leadership.”