India suspends border trade with Pakistan

NEW DELHI/MULTAN: India has suspended trade across the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, alleging that weapons and drugs are being smuggled across the route, prompting Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to tell New Delhi that as neighbours India and Pakistan cannot remain “aloof”.

On Thursday, India’s government, which is in the middle of a tough national election, claimed it had reports that trade on the border was being “misused by Pakistan-based elements for funnelling illegal weapons, narcotics and fake currency”.

It also claimed many of those trading across the Line of Control had links to militant organisations. The home ministry said trade would be suspended until a stricter inspection mechanism is in place. The region has been on edge since a February suicide attack that killed 40 Indian paramilitaries and brought the two countries to the brink of war with cross-border air strikes.

In response to the claims, Qureshi said India and Pakistan cannot stay aloof as neighbours as he reiterated the need for mutual dialogue to resolve issues. “India is geographically linked with Pakistan through common border, weather conditions, culture, language and rivers,” the minister said while addressing an oath-taking ceremony of newly elected body of Electronic News Cameramen Association (ENCA) at Multan Press Club.

He said that India and Pakistan could coexist peacefully as good neighbours and move forward to resolve all their issues including Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek, water, trade and terrorism. “War always brings destruction and cannot be considered as an option, particularly when both countries are nuclear forces.”

He recalled that Britain and Germans fought and inflicted destruction on each other in World War II. “But today we see them connected and united under the European Union umbrella with economic interest as the main point of convergence.”

The cross-border trade is based on a barter system, with traders exchanging goods including chillies, cumin, mango and dried fruit. It began in 2008 as a way to improve strained relations between New Delhi and Islamabad, who have fought two of their three wars over the disputed region.

The Indian Express newspaper said on Friday that 35 trucks carrying fruit travelling from the Indian side of the border had been stopped after the government order. Trade on the border has been suspended before, including in 2015, when India accused a Pakistani driver of drug trafficking.

The latest move comes after India withdrew “Most Favoured Nation Status” — covering trade links — from Pakistan after the February attack.

India’s Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made national security a key plank of his re-election campaign, pointing to the recent flare-up of violence as he battles the centre-left opposition Congress party.

He is seeking a second term from the country’s 900 million voters in the mammoth election which kicked off on April 11 and runs till May 19. The results will be out on May 23.