New Delhi:
Pakistan Rangers, who guard the Wagah check post - a key trading post between India and Pakistan - are on alert. The increased deployment of the Pakistan Rangers came after an alert issued by the Pakistan security agencies, saying the trading post could be targetted by terrorists.
The alert comes at a time when India and Pakistan are trying to normalise relations; increased trade between the two countries form the bulwark of that process. Earlier too, terrorist groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) have carried out attacks to derail improving ties between India and Pakistan.
Sources tell NDTV that Pakistan security agencies issued an alert about six days ago which said that the trading post could be attacked. However, this isn't the first time that Pakistan has issued such an alert. About a year and half ago, a similar alert had been issued. Pakistan then, it is learnt, feared an attack from the Teherek-e-Taliban Pakistan. However, that threat for the Wagah check and trading point did not materialise.
India has recently allowed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Pakistan and is considering opening up more trading points. It has also offered to supply Pakistan fuel and Liquefied Petroluem Gas (LPG) to help it deal with its energy crisis. Also, in a first in many decades, India recently exported bananas and newsprint to Pakistan this month.
The Press Trust of India recently reported that Pakistan's exports to India in the first quarter of 2011-12 fiscal grew by 2.8 per cent compared to the same period in the previous financial year and stood at USD 74 billion.