Pharmaceuticals, cement, fabric, petrochemicals, jute will now be traded through ICP

CHANDIGARH: Amritsar is poised to get its pre-partition eminence as a business hub of north-west India with India and Pakistan agreeing to add pharmaceuticals, cement, fabric, petrochemicals, jute and livestock to already traded 137 items allowed through land route through Wagah border.
A move also appears afoot to allow all 7,800 items traded between the two countries through the Attar-Wagah border as Indian commerce minister Anand Sharma said: “Ham chahte hain sare positive list wale items, sadak ke raste jayen (We want all positive list items should go through land route only).”
As per the research thesis of professor RS Ghuman 78 per cent of trade between India and Pakistan in 1952-1953 was through land route as against just 2 per cent now.If trade between Lahore and Indian Punjab has to take place, the land route cost in terms of time taken and transportation may be several times less than the sea route.
As then, Pakistan and Bangladesh were one, the ratio in terms of today’s scenario could be 50 per cent.
The new items to be traded were added after commerce secretaries of the two countries held discussions on Saturday.
Recalling the old days, Gurbachan Singh Bachan, a former geology professor, said: “Amritsar was an industrial hub before the Partition and the opening of the trade and ultimately making the silk route smooth will again make the border city very important. India and Pakistan have been an economically living organism which was paralysed by the Partition, trade through ICP is an effort to revive a paralysed limb.”
The reintegration of the region economically will bring major dividends as the commerce minister has already said, “We are moving forward towards economic integration” of the region to benefit from each other’s strength in an economic activity.
The opening of the investments from Pakistan and India apart from trade will help the process of economic integration of the most dynamic economic geographic unit of the undivided India. Already scholars have been talking about joint business ventures as a guarantee against madness of war-mongers in the two countries.
The border area of Batala and Goidwal were also major industrial towns before the Partition with iron foundries and machine tools being major units. Industries from Amritsar shifted after the Partition to survive.
Another senior person from Amritsar Daljit Singh Bedi was ecstatic over the opening of the trade through silk route connecting India with Middle East and Europe through land route.
Distance of Karachi port from key Indian places:
PlaceKm
Ahmedabad 602 Mumbai 890 Delhi 1098 Barmer (Rajasthan) 450 Neemuch (MP) 761 Ganganagar (Rajasthan) 880 Fazilka 924 Sirsa 947 Bathinda 983 Hisar 985 Ferozpur 1003 Ludhiana 1100
Distance between Amritsar and Mumbai port 1700 km