AFP, New Delhi :
India has suspended trade across its disputed Kashmir border with Pakistan, alleging that weapons and drugs are being smuggled across the route, as tensions simmer between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
Kashmir 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.
On Thursday, India’s government, which is in the middle of a tough
national election, said 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 said many of those trading across the Line of Control, which
divides Kashmir into zones under Indian and Pakistani control, had links to
militant organisations.
The home ministry said trade would be suspended until a stricter
inspection mechanism is in place.
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 Friday that 35 trucks carrying fruit
travelling from the Indian side of the border had been stopped after the
government order.
