Pakistan-India Trade:

BoX 2: The new (old) road to Kashmir
The time is ripe to take a new—and yet familiar—road to Kashmir.
This road would be built on the solid foundations of economic geography
and trade.
The high valley of Kashmir drains into northern Punjab via rivers and
“nullahs” (a ravine or gully). Clinging to the contours of the drainage system
are land routes that have facilitated the movement of people and goods for
centuries. This has evolved into an intricate network of commercial and social
“biradaries” (kinship-based networks) that bonds northern Punjab and
Kashmir, and has facilitated the outflow of Kashmiris from the resourcepoor
valley into the plains. The new strategy must re-establish this network.
This can only be done through unbridled trade with India across the
entire length of the international border and the Line of Control [LoC].
We are committed to this in the SAARC [South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation] agreements. Let us hasten it forward.
Trade with India can only do good. Consumers will benefit unambiguously.
Some powerful protected manufacturers will be hurt, but they
have enjoyed super profits long enough. Let them now compete. Many
will see India as an opportunity to enjoy scale economies that a large
middle class offers. Agriculture will benefit from the more advanced crop
technologies across the border.
A liberal trade regime will promote greater travel. We will see, firsthand,
the historical evidence of the grandeur of Muslim rule in India
and visit the dargahs (shrines) of sufi-saints. The Sikhs will travel to
Hasanabdal, Nankana, and Lahore to pay homage to their history and
religion. An elderly generation of Punjabi and Sindhi Hindus in India and
Northern Indian Muslims in Pakistan will fleetingly re-capture the galikoochas
(street-lanes) of their youth. How can this be bad?
And if commerce and people begin to move freely along the old trade
routes across the LoC and re-create traditional networks, who will be able
to tell where “Occupied” Kashmir ends and “Azad” Kashmir begins?
A liberalized trade regime could easily see India-Pakistan trade jump
to $2-$3 billion and much larger in the medium term. Powerful commercial
lobbies in Delhi, Lahore, Bombay, and Karachi will then ensure
that no one tramples on the rights of Kashmiris to trade, fraternize, and
prosper—be they Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist. How could this be bad?
Source: Ravian (Ijaz Nabi), “The New (Old) Road to Kashmir”, Daily Times,
September 13, 2002.
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