Leveling allegations on LoC trade

New Delhi leveling allegations of the transportation of “illegal weapons, narcotics and fake currency” into Jammu & Kashmir from the other side of the line of control (LoC) may be a defensible defence for the Government of India to suspend indefinitely the cross LoC trade but the allegations themselves are pointer to the fact that allegations even if substantiated by critical evidences themselves point to some security lapses due to which the alleged unfair trade practices have been undertaken. Better it would have been for the Government of India to share information about those engaged in the transportation of illegal weapons, narcotics and fake currency into India with the Government of Pakistan and propose some remedial measures for averting attempts of unfair trade practices between the divided parts of Jammu and Kashmir in future. Mutual deliberations over the allegations of the transportation of “illegal weapons, narcotics and fake currency would have brought authorities of India and Pakistan closer to an agreement over certain measures for averting such attempts of unfair trade practices in future.
Suspension of the trade is against the spirit of restoration of bilateral relations between India and Pakistan and above all two neighbouring countries can’t snap trade ties between the people of divided parts of Jammu & Kashmir forever as the trade has been going on smoothly for over a decade now. Not suspension but increasing the frequency of cross LoC trade was debated several times during last more than 12 years keeping in view the impact of the trade on the stabilization of the atmosphere of peace and security in Jammu and Kashmir state. Traders coming out on the streets with the demand for restoration of the cross LoC trade shows that suspension has rendered thousands of people jobless in both the divided parts of Jammu and Kashmir. The suspension of the cross LoC trade has angered people as much as they were angered by the restrictions on the civilian traffic on Kashmir high way two days a week and political wisdom demands that cross LoC trade is restored the way restrictions on Kashmir highway have been withdrawn by the governor’s administration.