SRINAGAR, MARCH 17:Union Minister of State for Industries and Commerce Jairam Ramesh on Monday said trade with Pakistan across the Line of Control (LoC) will start within 90 days. Ramesh said Pakistan has agreed to trade on nine items once the new government takes over in Islamabad.

“We want to get it off the ground as soon as possible. And the signals from Islamabad say they too are keen,” Ramesh said. He said the Pakistan Commerce Secretary who headed a recent delegation to New Delhi assured that Islamabad wanted to move ahead with LoC trade. “Once the new Government takes over in Pakistan, they will send a delegation or we will go there to sign an agreement.”

“There are no logistical difficulties. We have infrastructure in place and five points to cross the LoC,” Ramesh said. The nine trading items include carpets, handicrafts, furniture, silk products, fruits, aromatic and medicinal plants, spices and basmati rice.

Ramesh said trade across LoC would be all-weather unlike Nathu La, where the trade takes place from June to November.

He also unveiled a few economic initiatives for Kashmir, which included inauguration of the Rs115.84crore International Trade Centre at Pampore on the outskirts of Srinagar.

To be completed in two years, the centre would be the first of its kind in J&K with the state of the art exhibition halls spread over an area of 371 kanals of land. It will facilitate international exhibitions in the Valley during summer.

The minister announced that 40,000 carpet weaving looms in J&K would be modernised over the next five years. For this purpose, he said, the Central Government would extend financial assistance of Rs 17 crore annually. “Around 8,000 looms would be modernised every year for which the Government would provide 75 per cent assistance,” Ramesh said.

He urged the Jammu and Kashmir Bank to explore possibilities of providing soft loans to artisans. “We hope the International Trade Centre would give a major boost to the state’s handicrafts, handlooms and other such sectors.”

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