Ravi Krishnan Khajuria,Tribune News Service,Jammu, December 21

In a major step forward, over 1,200 traders from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) have unanimously decided to constitute a joint federation of traders from Poonch and Anantnag in J&K and Rawalakote and Chakoti in PoK.In the absence of travel permits from New Delhi and Islamabad, traders from both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) met in Dubai on December 16 and 17.“It is a big achievement for traders from PoK and J&K. The joint federation exclusively meant for trans-LoC traders from Poonch, Anantnag, Rawalakote and Chakoti will be put in place by March 31,” said Pawan Anand, president of the Chakan-da-Bagh LoC Traders’ Association.“Once such a federation comes up, we will be able to efficiently thrash out trade-related disputes and, at the same time, think of more measures to streamline trade,” he added. He admitted that in the absence of travel permits to trans-LoC traders, they had to hold their third meeting in Dubai.“Two years ago, we held our second meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The first meeting took place in Istanbul. Had traders been sanctioned travel permits, there would have been no need for us to meet abroad,” said Anand.YV Sharma, president of the Jammu Kashmir Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Rakesh Gupta, president of the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mushtaq Wani, president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Hilal Turki, general secretary of the Cross LoC Traders’ Federation, attended the meeting.“Being purely a meeting of traders from PoK and J&K, we discussed opening more trade routes via the LoC, more tradable items in the trade list, travel permits and banking facilities to take trade to another level,” said Anand.Traders from both sides felt the need for providing direct ISD facility to traders from J&K. They urged their respective governments to reopen the Kargil-Skardu road, which was part of the once flourishing Silk Route.Traders from PoK could call up traders in J&K on their cell phones, but there was an embargo on ISD facility from J&K to PoK.Trans-LoC trade was started in 2008, but the absence of basic facilities continued to hamper its growth. The trade was a brainchild of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed in 2002 during the PDP’s alliance with the Congress.