Border Trade Must Serve the Unemployed Youth, Not Just the Affluent
Border Trade and the Right to Earn: A Case for Small Traders in Gilgit-Baltistan The recent election of Haji Muhammad Iqbal as the unopposed President of the Gilgit-Baltistan Import and Export Association at Sost is a welcome development, particularly if the new leadership takes up the cause of legitimate concessions for the large and growing number of unemployed people—especially the region's youth—who look towards cross-Khunjrab trade as a means of earning an honest livelihood. It comes at a time when Pak-China border trade requires not merely representation of the business community, but a clear policy direction that recognises the important distinction between large commercial interests and the livelihood needs of ordinary people . This distinction assumes particular importance in Gilgit-Baltistan, as I had earlier pointed out in these columns in my article “Awaiting Redress: The Gilgit-Baltistan Discourse,” published on August 2, 2025. It is noteworthy that Paki...