India, Pakistan agree to trade goods

India and Pakistan have agreed to import carpets, raw products and food items from both sides of Kashmir.

India and Pakistan have agreed to import carpets, raw products and food items from both sides of Kashmir through truck service on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route from July this year.

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An understanding about the list of products to be traded between the two sides was reached during the second technical level talks held in Islamabad recently between the two sides.

During the parleys which was held after both sides reached an agreement in New Delhi early this month to allow intra-Kashmir trade via truck services, Pakistan agreed to import Kashmiri carpets and shawls, lentils, apricot, almond, coriander, saffron from Jammu and Kashmir.

India, on its part, agreed to import marble, apricot, rice, onion and garlic from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The value-added products were not included in the list of proposed tradable items on the pretext that it would be difficult for both sides to differentiate between Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri products, the Dawn newspaper quoted officials as saying.

Under the proposed treaty, commercial trucks are expected to start plying on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route from July this year following the finalisation of lists of trade items.