India, Pakistan agree to Kashmir border trade route

New Delhi: India and Pakistan agreed on arrangements to open a border route for bilateral trade in disputed Kashmir, a joint panel said on Monday, even as the two uneasy neighbours exchanged gunfire in the region.

"We have finalised the arrangement, the trade list and the modalities," Aizaz Ahmad Choudhary, a senior foreign ministry official leading a Pakistan delegation, said in New Delhi. "We will go back to our respective governments, it is for them to decide," he said after talks with Indian officials.

A joint working group comprising senior government officials from both countries held talks on starting border trade. On Monday, the joint panel said they were happy to open the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway to trade, but did not spell out details.

Officials said bilateral trade would help improve relations between the two countries. On Monday, Indian and Pakistani soldiers fired at each other in Kashmir, wounding a Pakistani woman, security officials said.