After Rs 2700 crore turnover, curtains rise again on cross LoC barter

JAMMU: Cross-LoC barter is slated to resume after 33 days hiatus on Thursday. Traders have already reached Slamabad in Uri and Chakan da Bagh in Poonch with their cargo.

“We are camping here and we have got our merchandise with us,” Hilal Turki, the secretary general of the Slamabad traders said. “But this time, the scanning of the material is quite abnormally different. Most of our items are suffering damage.”

The barter was stopped on January 17 after a PoK truck was found carrying 114 bags of brown sugar. Driver was arrested and it triggered sort of a crisis as Pakistan insisted the driver be handed over to them. The truck convoys – 27 from J&K and 48 from PoK - remained virtually hostage to the stalemate for 27 days on either side of the LoC.

“The smuggler will face the law,” a senior home ministry officer said. “If he gets a bail, we will decide (then) if he can crossover.”

State’s Industries Minister Sajjad A Kichloo told The ET that the government as a matter of policy is keen the CBM is strengthened. He said the volume of trade that is taking place is substantial and will touch Rs 3000 crore by the end of current fiscal.

“Since the trade started in late 2008, we have imported items valuing Rs 2253.24 crore (Pakistani currency equalnet to Rs 1336.22 crore),” Kichloo said. “In exchange, we have exported merchandise worth Rs 1353 crore.”

Kichloo said the movement of trucks offers just an idea of the volume that is being exchanged. “More than 52029 trucks have crossed the LoC in these years,” Kichloo said. “These include 37146 trucks that moved between Slamabad (Uri) and Chakothi (PoK) and 14883 trucks between Chakan da Bagh (Poonch) and Rawlakote.” Uri corridor in Kashmir is doing better than the Poonch one.