Pakistan proposes revival of boarder trade through Wagah-Attari

The Pakistan government has approved plans to revive bilateral trade with India through the Wagah-Attari boarder as also the development of infrastructure to facilitate commerce.

A meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet chaired by finance minister Shaukat Tarin authorised the commerce ministry to start bilateral trade with India through the road link.

The decision is a follow-up of an agreement between president Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Manmohan Singh during a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last year.

The proposal for bilateral trade though the Wagah-Attari boarder will be implemented in a "phased manner commensurate with parallel development of infrastructure on both sides of border," an official statement said.

The number of items traded between the two countries will also be raised from the current figure of 1,938 in a phased manner. 

Trade through the boarder, will initially be restricted to 14 items. The route will subsequently be opened to import of essentials and raw materials for export-oriented industries, reports said.

The Attari-Wagh boarder - the Indo-Pak joint check post – however, is under high alert currently and the Army and the Boarder Security Force have intensified vigil all along the Attari border after the daring terror strike on a Sri Lankan cricket team's convoy in Lahore in Pakistan a fortnight ago.