Ties with India seen steady after Pakistan vote

By Robert Birsel

WAGAH, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani labourers on the border with India unloaded tomatoes on Wednesday, the fruit of a tentative peace process between the old rivals that looks set to be sustained no matter who wins Pakistan's elections.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan and India have fought three wars since 1947 and nearly went to war again in 2002 but a peace process launched in early 2004 ushered in a period of calm.

But after months of political turmoil in Pakistan that began when President Pervez Musharraf tried to dismiss the country's top judge last March, relations with India have hardly figured in the campaign for parliamentary elections on Feb 18.

In Wagah, the main crossing point on the border, dozens of porters in red shirts unloaded crates of tomatoes from Indian trucks that crossed over into a dusty staging area just inside Pakistan.

Trade between the old rivals is still restricted, and while it is a trickle of what it could be it still represents a marked improvement in ties.

"Just 30 to 35 trucks come a day and not everyone gets work. Some of us go home empty handed in the evening," said labourer Mohammad Arshad.

"We pray for better relations. That would mean more work."

The elections for a new parliament and assemblies in Pakistan's provinces is seen as a three-way race between the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League, which has ruled under him, and the opposition parties of former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and the assassinated Benazir Bhutto.