J&K seeks new corridor for Indo-Pak trade

The Jammu and Kashmir government will soon approach the ministry of home affairs with a request to explore the possibility of bringing Suchetgarh-Sialkot corridor between India and Pakistan along the International Border within the ambit of cross-border trade and travel.

“Suchetgarh can be J&K’s Wagah. I will approach the Centre to make it a people-to-people meeting point across the IB,” chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed said on Friday. He added, “With improvement in the overall situation, we can also explore the option of promoting Suchetgarh as a trading point with the neighbouring country.”

Suchetgarh is about 27 kilometres from winter capital Jammu and served as the route to Sialkot during the pre-partition era, the (now) Pakistani town which is just 11 kms from the border post. The Jammu-Sialkot railway line through Suchetgarh was a 43-km-narrow gauge branch of the North-Western railway and the first railway line in Jammu and Kashmir. But since 1947, the line has fallen into a state of disrepair on both sides of the border.

Mr Sayeed during a visit to Suchetgarh termed the place as ideally located for border tourism and said there is scope to expand existing cross-border trade and travel by making it a third crossing point after Uri-Chakoti and Poonch-Rawlakote corridors along the Line of Control. While a decision on this needs to be taken mutually by India and Pakistan, the J&K government on its part will work towards creating additional facilities to increase footfall of tourists to Suchetgarh. “It will be ultimate if we are able to achieve a breakthrough (with Pakistan) in opening up Suchetgarh as an industrial trading point with Sialkot, across the border,” he told reporters. Mr Sayeed referred to the times when people from both sides of the border would meet at Suchetgarh “because of which this place used to be abuzz with activity.”

The CM issued directions for setting up of an amusement park and musical fountains to make the destination more attractive. He also passed instructions for taking up with BRO the four-laning of 7-km road stretch between R.S. Pura and Suchetgarh, to make the travel of the visitors to the border town more comfortable.

The officers accompanying the Chief Minister informed that government land is already available, but to create adequate infrastructure for developing Suchetgarh as a tourist destination, even proprietary land may also be required to be acquired. The Tourism Department was instructed to work out the requirement of land for executing this project. The Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, assured that the acquisition of land would be done on a fast-track basis. Mr. Sayeed was also briefed about the broad contours of the Ministry of Tourism’s (MoT) Swadesh Darshan Scheme for development of Suchetgarh as a border destination. The project, sanctioned at a cost of Rs.4.92 crore, envisages restoration of old Octroi post (built during British Era), construction of multi-purpose hall, development of pond and landscaping of the lawns.