An Indian truck full of tomatoes entered Pakistan Monday -- for the first time in 60 years -- from this international border near Amritsar.

Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal flagged off the truck, signalling the resumption of motorised trade over a 50-km road link instead of hundreds of kilometres by ship.

So far, goods were off-loaded by trucks in their own countries and then carried manually by hundreds of porters on both sides of the border.

When it came to large volumes, goods used to be carried on the Kandla-Dubai-Karachi route. With the time, distance and money involved, that process made no business sense.

Monday's move will boost direct trade between India and Pakistan four to five times.

For starters, the trucks will drive only up to the customs house in each other's country and no further. The customs houses are located just one kilometre inside the border.