India, Pakistan to announce new CBM on Kashmir: Report

Islamabad, Jul 25 (PTI) Pakistan and India are likely
to announce new Kashmir-related confidence-building measures,
including an increase in the number of trading points along
the LoC, when the Foreign Ministers of the two countries meet
in New Delhi this week, according to a media report Monday.
The CBMs include an increase in the number of
trading points along the Line of Control, increasing the
number of trading days from two to four, the launch of a new
bus service between Kargil and Skardu and increasing the
frequency of the bus link between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar, a
unnamed Foreign Office official told The Express Tribune
newspaper.
The agreement on the new CBMs was finalised at a
recent meeting of a Pakistan-India working group in New Delhi
and is part of efforts by the two countries to facilitate
trade and travel along the LoC.
The official said the Foreign Secretaries – due to
meet in New Delhi on July 26, a day before the
ministerial-level talks – will further discuss the issue.
"The new CBMs will be placed before the two Foreign
Ministers and they may announce the final agreement at the end
of talks," said the official.
Currently, cross-LoC trade is conducted along the
Muzaffarabad-Uri and Poonch-Rawalakot.
India has proposed three additional trading routes –
Nauseri-Tithwal, Hajipur-Uri and Tattapani-Mendhar.
Traders from both sides of the LoC have been
demanding an increase in the number of trading days,
resumption of telecommunication links between the two parts of
Kashmir and inclusion of more items in the trade.
Pakistani Foreign Office officials said the two
countries are trying to address these issues to facilitate
traders from both sides.