Ties between India and Pakistan may have turned cold following last year's Mumbai attacks, but trade across the Line of Control (LoC) has certainly been looking up.

In fact, government authorities on both sides of the LoC have decided to extend trade on the Poonch-Rawalakote trade route to two days a week from one day. Currently, official sources said trade consignments from Poonch are sent to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) every Tuesday and consignments from PoK arrive in Poonch every Wednesday. This will change from next week as consignments will be exchanged on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, sources added.

As trade has been increasing on the Poonch-Rawalakote route, the authorities consulted traders from both sides of the LoC and took the decision to extend the number of trading days, the sources added. A meeting in this connection was held last week at Chakan-Da-Bagh on the LoC in Poonch, through which consignments are exchanged.

Matloob Khan, the general manager of District Industries Centre at Poonch, said: “Now trade would take place from both sides on both days to boost cross-LoC trade.”

“Currently, the trade consignment from Poonch goes to PoK on Tuesdays, for which the traders from Jammu have to rush their consignments at Chakan-Da-Bagh every Monday for assessment of the items, besides security checking,” he said. He added that since vegetable and fruit markets remain closed in India on Sundays, and open on Mondays, “the traders face difficulties in rushing the consignments on Mondays itself to Chakan-Da-Bagh for delivery to PoK next day”.