NEW DELHI ‚ After more than 60 years, trade opened Tuesday across the de facto border dividing the Indian and Pakistani parts of the disputed region of Kashmir.
Sixteen Indian trucks, loaded mostly with apples and walnuts, rumbled across the border on Tuesday morning, said Pawan Kotwal, the commerce secretary for Indian-administered Kashmir. Trucks from Pakistan later made the reverse trip. Trade is initially limited to 21 approved items and two days a week.
Nevertheless, on their long journey of rivalry and reconciliation, the reopening of the trade route represents a breakthrough for India and Pakistan, especially because it follows fresh acrimony. After four years of relative peace, the dividing Line of Control this year was again the scene of gunfire as India once more accused Pakistan of allowing militants to sneak across the border.
Relations worsened with attacks on Indian soil over the past several months and hit bottom in July with the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, for which India partly blamed a Pakistani intelligence agency.
The decision to reopen the trade crossing came out of a meeting last month between President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. It is meant to bolster confidence between the nations and open contact between ordinary Kashmiris separated by the six decades of conflict.
It followed the authorization of two passenger buses to allow visits between divided Kashmiri families, which began in April 2005.
On Tuesday, television images showed a special trading post set up at Salamabad, near the Line of Control. It was festooned with banners welcoming the resumption of trade.
"I'm completely hopeful that this will remove a lot of difficulties and create an atmosphere of friendship on the two sides," the governor, Narendra Nath Vohra, said, The Associated Press reported from Salamabad.
The resumption of trade could also represent a confidence-building measure for the Indian government, which faces increased agitation by Kashmiri separatists.
This week the separatists welcomed cross-border trade. They have called for a boycott of state elections, set for November.
