April to December 2012
Bilateral trade at disputed Kashimir border resumes after 20 days
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s exports to India grew 66 percent to $460 million during April-December, 2012 over the same period in the preceding year, according to the latest figures of the directorate general of commercial intelligence and statistics, ministry of commerce and industry, government of India.
However, India’s exports to Pakistan during the same period rose only 16 percent, said a statement issued on Tuesday by High Commission of India, Islamabad.
During April-December, 2011, Pakistan’s exports to India stood at $277 million. “The share of Pakistan’s exports in bilateral trade with India has almost doubled since 2009-10,” said the statement.
“The impressive increase in Pakistan’s exports reflects the benefits of the steps taken to enhance bilateral trade, and improvement of trade environment, aided by SAFTA tariff reductions,” it said.
Prior to skirmishes on the Line of Control earlier this month, Pakistan and India had been edging towards a greater economic cooperation. In 2010, the two countries had signed three agreements in the areas of customs cooperation, mutual recognition of standards, and redressal of trade grievances. The most significant moves of the year, however, were New Delhi’s decision to allow Pakistani investment on Indian shores, followed by Islamabad’s to replace its positive list of imports with a negative list.
Over the course of 2012, several trade organizations from both countries held successful exhibitions in each other’s countries and discussed a number of initiatives, including joint ventures.
AFP adds: Trade between Pakistan and India resumed over the de facto border in Kashmir on Tuesday after a 20-day halt sparked by deadly army clashes, with traders grumbling about their losses. Six Pakistani trucks crossed into Indian-administered Kashmir, an official said, ending the halt in trade sparked by the killing of five soldiers earlier this month. The convoy, carrying onions, dates and dried fruits, crossed the Line of Control (LoC) that divides the two parts of the disputed Himalayan territory, shortly before midday.
A similar number also crossed over from Poonch on the Indian side of the LoC to Rawalakot on the Pakistan side with dozens more trucks waiting to make the same journey.
Traders on the Pakistani side complained that the closure of the key crossing point had cost them Rs30 million ($300,000) following the flare-up.
Cross-border trade has been encouraged in recent years as a means of improving relations between the nuclear-armed rivals, who have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir.
Kashan Masood, the head of the traders’ association in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, said the recent disruption had hit business hard.”We had placed orders for tomatoes and other vegetables from India. They were rotten and we suffered the loss of 30 million rupees,” he said.
“We are always at risk that our business will suffer whenever tension starts on LoC. We are doing this business at our own risk as we don’t have any guarantee from the authorities.”
Kishan Singh, an Indian member of a joint chamber of commerce formed by traders on both sides of the LoC, welcomed the resumption but said it was not enough to dispel the uncertainty.
