Srinagar, Jan 10:  Protesting the ban imposed by India and Pakistan on various items of trade across LoC, the business community from both sides has decided to suspend the entire trade till ban was revoked.
“The hawkish elements in Indian and Pakistani governments are creating hurdles in the business activities being conducted across the LoC,” the traders of this part said. 
They said they along with their counterparts on the other side of the line had decided to boycott the trade till governments of India and Pakistan revoked the ban.
The trade across LoC was restarted after 60 years on 21 October, 2008 through two routes: Poonch -Rawlakot and Srinagar-Muzaffarabad. The trade was started as part of Confidence Building Measures (CBMs).
Meanwhile, a peace group -Press For Peace (PFP), on Thursday released a preliminary draft of its report on trade across Line of Control.
After conducting interviews of business community in four major trade cities – Poonch, Rawalakot, Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, PFP report mentioned that traders on both sides were suffering from unnecessary restrictions and procedural delays imposed by the officials.
Referring to the recent bar on Mung Dal (gram) the traders said it was unjustified to ban those commodities which had been approved by Indian and Pakistani officials when Standing Operation Procedure (SOP) was signed two years ago.
The traders said they could not afford to lose the business just to please the governments. They said banning certain items actually rendered the trade across the LoC fruitless.
The report quoted annoyed traders from Indian side of Kashmir who demanded that Pakistan must revoke ban on Mung Dal.
The report also noted the poor services on the entry points and urged Indian and Pakistani governments to evolve modern and time saving mechanism for checking and dispatching of business goods.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 10 Jan 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 10 Jan 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:00:00 IST