What is the work of Pakistan in Kashmir: The formula to win the trust of Kashmiris without Pakistan is difficult, know why relations across the LoC are important for Kashmiris?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held a meeting with 8 parties of Jammu and Kashmir for about three and a half hours. Modi wants that the distance of hearts between Delhi and Kashmir should be erased. But Kashmiri leaders say that it is difficult with a meeting. He believes that it is necessary to restore trust in Kashmir and Kashmiris.

Meanwhile, Mehbooba Mufti has started a new debate by talking about resuming talks with Pakistan. The debate is that what is the work of Pakistan in Kashmir? Actually, trust building is not possible without talks with Pakistan at the moment.

Why is the relationship across the LoC important, know in question and answer…

First of all, why did the government need to talk to Kashmiri leaders?
Modi’s talks with Kashmiri leaders are being seen as removing a major hurdle. It is being said that efforts are being made to build a bridge between New Delhi and Srinagar. Experts say that the government needed to take this step because there is no instability in Jammu and Kashmir and there is no pressure. In such a situation, the ground for talks with Kashmiri parties became.

There is also a ceasefire going on with Pakistan. This continues from February 2021. Hundreds of terrorists and many of their commanders have been killed in 2 years. Along with this, geo-political changes are also taking place. In view of these, the government has to take the step of dialogue.

Why did the name of Pakistan rise again?
PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti, who became part of the Gupkar Alliance, said after the meeting with Modi that the way you are talking to China. Talking to Taliban in Doha, you should resume talks with Pakistan on Kashmir issue.

What will be the effect of raising the name of Pakistan?
Mehbooba has named Pakistan. But National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, who is part of the Gupkar Alliance, said that we do not want to bring Pakistan in the picture, we will talk to the Prime Minister of the country on this matter. What Mehbooba said will be her agenda. The differences between the parties involved in the Gupkar have come to the fore from both the statements.

Already this alliance has become of 6 to 5 parties. People’s Conference’s Sajjad Lone has already parted ways, who said after the meeting that we came out of the meeting with positivity. It is clear from the statements that it is difficult to take the parties involved in the Gupkar together. However, Sajjad Lone has also demanded autonomy and cross border trade in Jammu and Kashmir.

Why is cross border trade and travel necessary now?
The Delhi-based Bureau of Research on Industry and Economics Fundamentals (BRIEF) conducted research on cross-LoC trade of Kashmiris. In this, BRIEF has also interacted with traders of Srinagar, Baramulla, Uri, Poonch and more than 4 thousand families.

Research has revealed that people doing business on the Uri-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalkot routes have been badly affected. After April 2019, cross LoC trading was banned in J&K.

When did cross border trading start, what is its scope?
The first cross LoC bus service Caravan-e-Pakistan was started by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 7 April 2005 when Mufti Sayeed was the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. This bus service used to connect Srinagar with Muzaffarabad. Later on, on 21 October 2008, Cross LoC trade was initiated. It was introduced on the Uri-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalkot routes.

According to research, between 2008 and 2019, 21 items were allowed to be traded on these two routes. There was no banking or money transfer facility for this. According to research, people doing business on the Uri-Muzaffarabad route are incurring a loss of 40 crores annually. Between 2008 and 2019, business of about 7500 crores was done on both the routes.

Why did the government ban cross border trading?
Cross border trading had to be stopped several times due to ceasefire violations. It was completely stopped on 9 April 2019, 5 months before Article 370 was removed from Jammu and Kashmir. The government said that this trading route is being used for smuggling of weapons, smuggling of drugs and counterfeit notes.

Why is this cross border trading necessary?
Experts say that cross LoC trading and bus service are the two most important things for confidence building in Kashmir. They are also very important for resolving the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan. The same things came to the fore when BRIEF interacted with people during its research.

Firoz Ahmed, who trades handicrafts, says that our business has been affected due to the lockdown. We do not want an atmosphere of uncertainty. We want our leaders to fulfill our expectations. Student Hanan Khan says that the worst effect of the lockdown has been on us. Thankfully, high speed internet service has been started. Now we do not want any further disruption in our studies.