Jalalabad: The Punjab government
on Wednesday made a fresh appeal to the Centre to open Fazilka and
Ferozepur borders with Pakistan to boost bilateral trade
between the two nations.
"I would personally raise this issue (opening of Fazilka
and Ferozepur borders) with Union Home Minister P Chidambaram
on April 13 during the inaugural ceremony of Integrated Check
Post at Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar," Deputy Chief
Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal told reporters here.
He said once thriving business towns, these cities have
suffered a lot with the closure of trade routes and industry
also has shunned the area, being a border region.
He said the integrated check post if fully utilised would
change the economic profile of the landlocked border state.
He said it was imperative to make Attari-Wagah, a gateway
to trade with Afghanistan and other central Asian countries.
Demanding a liberalised visa regime for Indian and
Pakistani traders, Badal said to get optimum benefit of
integrated check post, central government must strive for
making suitable changes in visa rules especially for traders
and investors.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, April 11, 2012, 18:31