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NEW DELHI, Jan 13 (AP): A top Indian business group predicted Friday that trade between India and Pakistan would double to US$1.0 billion (euro825 million) in the fiscal year through March as the rivals press ahead with a sweeping peace process.
After six decades of hostility that witnessed three wars and a near shutdown in direct trade, "there has been an upsurge in bilateral trade," the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said in a statement.
The peace process began in January 2004 and trade has begun to flourish as road, rail and air links between the countries have reopened. The two nuclear powers agreed earlier this week to reopen a second rail link.
India-Pakistan trade grew by 76 per cent in the March-September period from the same six months in 2004, the group said.
Trade between the two neighbours is now "expected to double by the end of the current fiscal," the organization said.
"Promotion of bilateral trade between India and Pakistan holds immense significance for economic growth and stability in South Asia," the group said.
Trade and travel restrictions imposed in previous decades spawned a multimillion dollar smuggling industry through third countries, and the so-called unofficial trade is already valued at more than US$2.0 billion, the organization said.
India and Pakistan were split during the bloody partition of the subcontinent at independence from Britain in 1947.
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