Trucks, trade, buses and India

A 10-kg package of narcotics ought not to be the spark that ignites a diplomatic incident between India and Pakistan

It takes very little to disrupt relations between Pakistan and India. There appears to have been a dialling back of hostilities and shelling across the Line of Control (LoC) in recent days; only to be replaced by a dispute with authorities in Indian-occupied Kashmir over the detention of 22 lorries. The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) authorities have now announced that the Muzzafarabad-Srinagar bus service is to be suspended for a week as of February 9. There are to be meetings between representatives of both India and Pakistan in an effort to resolve the matter. India detained 22 trucks on February 6 on the grounds that one of the trucks was alleged to be carrying 10kgs of narcotics. The AJK Travel and Trade Authority (TATA) has denied the charge and asked to see the evidence, as well as demanding the release of the driver. The Indian authorities have so far refused to meet these demands.

It is entirely possible that drugs were found in one of the trucks. It is equally possible that the drugs could have been planted for whatever reason. It is entirely possible that the driver is completely innocent — and equally possible that he is not. All of this is possible, and as yet, none of it is known as an incontrovertible fact. There are now 50 Indian trucks detained at the Chakothi Trade Facilitation Centre and both sides are said to be working at a diplomatic level “to settle the issue amicably”.

In the wider scheme of things, the detection of drugs in a convoy going either way across the India-Pakistan border is hardly surprising given the active groups of smugglers and corrupt officials on both sides of the LoC; and it ought to be handled in a routine manner by the law-enforcement agencies on either side. But no, instead there is a full-blown diplomatic incident and the pot of tension is given another stir. The Pakistan-India conflict represents the single greatest missed opportunity in the entire South Asian region, a drain on the resources of both countries. A 10-kg package of narcotics ought not to be the spark that ignites a diplomatic incident, and we hope for an early resolution.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th,  2015.

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