On Cross Border Trade

, March 9: The debate on economic unification of the divided parts of Jammu and Kashmir is gaining momentum with the separatists seeking inclusion of the ‘united J&K’ as Sovereign State in the seven-member South Asian economic bloc, SAARC. There are also voices favoring the conversion of LoC into a ‘line of commerce’ through an open market formula in which two parts of Kashmir will have a duty-free access to both Indian as well as Pakistani markets.
Experts here believe the perpetual blockade of the traditional routes across the Line of Control (LoC), which divides J&K between India and Pakistan, has an estimated annual trade potential of whopping Rs 12000 Crore.Islamic Students League leader Shakeel Bakhshi believes that this huge loss could be made good if the ‘J&K Union’ was included in SAARC. “The economic union would bring fruits only if J&K would get the SAARC membership of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). By this we would be able to get patents for our indigenous products,” Bakhshi told Rising Kashmir.The economic unification, he added, is the extension of South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) leading towards a customs union, common market and economic union.

On Pak Govt Change RK
19 Feb : chairman of Islamic Students League (ISL) Shakeel Ahmed Bakhsi said, “From the day Pakistan has raised the slogan of Pakistan first its role in Kashmir has become confined. For us their internal matters hardly matter." Bakhsi said that transition of power in Pakistan hardly matters for Kashmiris.
Separatists, UJC rebuke PPP co-chairman term him irrelevant