Another non-starter

PRESIDENT Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in their meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, decided to start bilateral trade in Occupied Kashmir. Both the leaders also agreed to open up Wagha-Attari and the Khokrapar-Munabao routes for all permissible items of trade. Considering what is presently happening in Kashmir, especially the atrocities committed by Indian security forces totalling 700,000, measures of the sort have little relevance in resolving the conflict. To begin with, trade with India only makes sense once the issue has been resolved in accordance with the wishes of the people and with the UN resolutions. It is moreover highly regrettable to see a propensity on the part of many of our leaders to put the core issue on the backburner and instead waste time in measures like the trade and other such non-starters.