Cross-LoC trade, bus service to resume on Monday

Cross-border trade and bus service between India and Pakistan will resume at Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch Sector on Monday, after more than a fortnight-long suspension, following escalation in tension at the Line of Control over the brutal killing of two Indian soldiers by Pakistani troops.

"Cross-LoC bus service and trade would resume from January 28 along the Chakan-da-Bagh crossing point in Poonch district," said JK Minister of State for Industries and Commerce Sajjad Kitchloo.

Pakistani authorities had conveyed their willingness to resume trade and bus service along the borderline in Poonch to the Indian side on Saturday, he said.

Kitchloo expressed hope that trade across the Line of Control would increase.

Cross-LoC trade and travel, described as a key confidence building measure, was suspended after escalation in tension between the two countries along the LoC after two Indian soldiers were killed by Pakistani troops on January 8. One of the soldiers was beheaded by the Pakistani Army.

The Pakistan Army, on January 11, had refused to open the gates for allowing cross-LoC trade at Chakan-Da-Bagh crossing point in Poonch district, resulting in nearly 25 J-K trucks getting stranded.

The Chakan-Da-Bagh crossing point was started in 2006 to facilitate easier trade and travel between divided families of Jammu and Kashmir and PoK. It is considered a major confidence building exercise between India and Pakistan.