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INDIA -ECONOMY-PAKISTAN-KASHMIR-TRADE
India suspends Kashmir border trade with Pakistan
NEW DELHI, April 19, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – India has suspended trade across its
disputed Kashmir border with Pakistan, alleging that weapons and drugs are
being smuggled across the route, as tensions simmer between the nuclear-armed
neighbours.
Kashmir has been on edge since a February suicide attack that killed 40
Indian paramilitaries and brought the two countries to the brink of war with
cross-border air strikes.
On Thursday, India’s government, which is in the middle of a tough
national election, said it had reports that trade on the border was being
“misused by Pakistan-based elements for funnelling illegal weapons, narcotics
and fake currency”.
It also said many of those trading across the Line of Control, which
divides Kashmir into zones under Indian and Pakistani control, had links to
militant organisations.
The home ministry said trade would be suspended until a stricter
inspection mechanism is in place.
The cross-border trade is based on a barter system, with traders
exchanging goods including chillies, cumin, mango and dried fruit.
It began in 2008 as a way to improve strained relations between New Delhi
and Islamabad, who have fought two of their three wars over the disputed
region.
The Indian Express newspaper said Friday that 35 trucks carrying fruit
travelling from the Indian side of the border had been stopped after the
government order.
Trade on the border has been suspended before, including in 2015, when
India accused a Pakistani driver of drug trafficking.
The latest move comes after India withdrew “Most Favoured Nation Status” –
– covering trade links — from Pakistan after the February attack, which was
claimed by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed Islamist group.
Islamabad has denied any involvement in the attack.
India’s Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made national
security a key plank of his re-election campaign, pointing to the recent
flare-up of violence as he battles the centre-left opposition Congress party.
He is seeking a second term from the country’s 900 million voters in the
mammoth election which kicked off on April 11 and runs till May 19. The
results will be out on May 23.
BSS/AFP/HR/1240