Punjab traders stop sending tomatoes, vegetables to Pakistan

AMRITSAR - Indian traders here Friday stopped sending trucks laden with tomatoes and other vegetables to Pakistan.

Virtually showing discontent over Pakistan’s decision to stop sending onions to India via land and rail route, nearly 70 trucks of tomatoes, potatoes, chili and ginger were stopped by the traders near the Attari-Wagah border.

Around 30 Amritsar-based exporters have unanimously taken this decision.

“If they cannot send onions at this crisis situation, then we should also snap our trade with them. We are not concerned about the loses. The Pakistan government has not given any satisfactory reason for their sudden move,” Maninder Singh, one of the traders in the action said Friday.

Pakistan’s commerce ministry ruled Jan 4 that onions cannot be taken out of the country by the land route, which virtually meant a ban on its export to India since its shipment and air delivery would take more time and cost more.

India was receiving around 50 truck-loads of onions a day from Pakistan since Dec 5. The consignments were mainly coming to India from Pakistan’s Sindh province. Pakistan has now said it is facing a shortage of onions itself.

“India is one of the main exporters of vegetables to Pakistan and majority of this trade is done by land route. We will not resume sending vegetables till they start sending onions through the Attari border,” said another trader.