By Sudip Mazumdar

What guns and bullets, terrorists and troops could not establish in the disputed region of Kashmir, boxes of apples, bottles of honey and sacks of spices achieved this week when trade links between India and Pakistan were revived after nearly six decades of hostility. Two convoys of trucks carrying the goods from two sides of Kashmir crossed a "Peace Bridge" in an historic journey reviving hopes of peace to the strife-torn region. As school children cheered and waved flags, officials and security personnel from both sides, hugged each other and exchanged gifts amidst much bonhomie. "Today marks the beginning of the dismantling of the border," said Mubeen Shah, president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries. "I am sure this trade will grow and help bring peace in the region."

The move to revive the old historic trade routes and links that stretched all the way to Central Asia was proposed by Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh nearly two years ago, but could not get off the ground as both sides remained constrained by mutual suspicion, their respective domestic politics and unrest. Things began to thaw when Singh met Pakistan's new president, Asif Ali Zardari, in New York in September and they agreed to push for the opening of the trade routes. Officials and diplomats from both sides quietly worked on the modalities and a new era of confidence-building measures started with the trucks crossing the bridge. "Today is an historic day marking yet another chapter of friendship in Indo-Pak bilateral relations," said H.H. Tyabji, a senior Indian official.

Ever since the British divided the Indian subcontinent in 1947 into India and Pakistan, the two nations have had disputing claims on the state of Kashmir. Following a war a year later, a tense Line of Control (LOC) sliced Kashmir into two and triggered an unrest that later turned into an Islamic separatist insurgency. India has deployed nearly 300,000 troops to keep peace while Islamic separatists launch terror attacks from across their sanctuary in the Pakistan-held Kashmir. Both sides deployed troops on the LOC and they often skirmished as terror attacks and civil unrest kept the valley of Kashmir on the boil. Barely four months ago, a popular uprising against the Indian rule nearly derailed a faltering peace process between the two nuclear-armed rivals. But with the revival of trade routes and the enthusiasm it has generated among the people on both sides, Kashmir appears to be at a turning point to see an end to its strife, and maybe an end to the terrorism that has turned South Asia into one of the most violent places on earth.