Srinagar, June 23 (KMS): As Government of India has suspended the trade across the Line of Control (LoC), traders of both parts of Kashmir are holding a three-day conference from today at Tashkent in Uzbekistan to chalk out a strategy to push for its resumption.
The two business delegations from occupied Kashmir would be led by President of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Sheikh Ashiq, and President of Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), Rakesh Gupta. The President of Poonch cross-LoC Traders Association, Pawan Anand, will also be part of the delegation.
The President of Mirpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), Sohail Shuja Mujahid, will lead the business delegation from Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The delegation would also include president of Traders Union Rawalakot-Poonch, Sardar Kazeem and Chakothi Traders Union former general secretary, Anjum Zaman Awan.
The conference is being organised by Centre for Peace, Development and Reforms (CPDR).
The KCCI President, Sheikh Ashiq, said the aim of the conference is to formulate a strategy to restart the cross-LoC trade. “Due to suspension of LoC trade, the traders are incurring huge losses. The motive of the meet is to find a common ground and then reach out to the respective governments across the line to push for its reopening,” he said.
The cross-LoC trade was started in October 2008 as part of confidence-building measures (CBMs) between India and Pakistan. On April 2019, Government of India ordered suspension of cross-LoC trade on both routes (Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalakote) in Jammu and Kashmir.