India, Pakistan open trade route across Kashmir

New Delhi: Trucks laden with fruit, honey, garments and spices crossed the heavily armed frontier in the Himalayan region of Kashmir on Tuesday as India and Pakistan opened a trade route between the two sides of the divided region for the first time in six decades.

Dozens of school children lined the road in Salamabad, a town on the Indian side near the Line of Control, the de facto border in Kashmir, where a specially designed trading post has been set up with warehouses and security checks for the goods.

The trucks were decorated with flags and banners reading "Long live trade across the two sides."

"I was 12 years old when I last saw baskets of fruits being packed to be sent to Rawalpindi," said Haji Abdul Ahad Bhat, a 74-year-old apple farmer from the Indian side.

The opening of the trade route is meant to bolster a 2004 peace agreement between the South Asian rivals. The truce has appeared increasingly fragile in recent months amid dozens of cross-border shootings and charges from New Delhi that Islamabad backed attacks in India.

Separatists on the Indian side, who have stepped up demands for a trade route between Indian and Pakistani-controlled sections of Kashmir during recent mass protests against Indian rule, also hailed Tuesday's trade opening as a victory.

The trade route follows the introduction of other confidence-building measures in recent years, including the opening of rail and bus links between the two sides.

On Tuesday, the mood was festive as a crowd watched the governor of India's Jammu-Kashmir state send off the 13 pickup trucks heading to the Pakistani side.

"I'm completely hopeful that this will remove a lot of difficulties and create an atmosphere of friendship on the two sides," said the governor, Narendra Nath Vohra.

On Pakistan's side of the frontier, more than a dozen trucks carrying rock salt, garments and raisins made the crossing.

For now, the route remains largely symbolic. After the inaugural exchange Tuesday, only four trucks will be allowed across from each side once a week.

Why do you think it took so long for the trade agreements to be in place? How will the citizens of the two countries benefit from the process? What impact might this have on the issue of Kashmir?