Ahead of the North Zone Council (NZC) meeting to be chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah in Amritsar on September 26, a prominent trade body has raised the demand for the resumption of trade links with Pakistan.
Traders are hopeful that the Union government will once again open the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari, set up in 2012, to activate business routes for trade with Pakistan and make a new beginning, boosting economic activities in the border State of Punjab.
Ashok Sethi, director of the Amritsar-based Confederation of International Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said there’s an urgent need to restart trade as local businesses have been facing huge economic crises since 2019, with trade remaining suspended following the Pulwama terror attack. “It’s significant to mention that India, Pakistan and Afghanistan annually traded more than ₹8,000 crore worth of business since 2012, after the inauguration of the ICP’s newly established modern port,” he added.
Mr. Sethi pointed out that Amritsar is a strategically located city with three international gateways, including road, rail and air connectivity. “It holds tremendous potential for opening trade through roads connecting Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and beyond to Central Asian countries. The ICP was established with the primary aim to connect India not only to neighbours in the western region but the high trading areas of Iran, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan etc.,” he said.
“India and Pakistan, and especially Afghanistan, have had business ties for the past couple of centuries, while Amritsar has remained a major commercial hub. In all fairness, if all these — air, road and rail are links — are explored, it could trigger and rejuvenate the economy not only for Punjab but for the entire country,” Mr. Sethi added.
