As cross-LoC trade falls silent in Kashmir, Mehbooba, traders recall how a dream became reality

Once the hub of cross-Line of Control (LoC) trade in Kashmir, the Salamabad Trade Facilitation Centre in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district is set to become a tourism centre. However, for former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and traders who used the facility, the move marks “the closure of a chapter of hope written by blood, sacrifices and years of toil”.

The Jammu and Kashmir government this month decided to hand over the trade facilitation centre, which once housed warehouses, scanning centres, customs services and a cafeteria, to the Tourism Department. The move comes seven years after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) suspended the cross-LoC trade in April 2019 “due to security reasons”.