In a major breakthrough, trade officials of Pakistan and India softened their strategic stance on key trade issues that have impeded growth of bilateral trade since partition, an official source said. The major development was witnessed at the first of the two days of commerce secretary-level talks between the nuclear-armed neighbours to discuss various bilateral trade issues.
The second day of talks will be held in the resort town of Bhurban. Commerce Secretary Zafar Mehmood told reporters after the meeting that the talks reviewed the progress made during 2004-2007 and finalised some of the issues. He said that no talks were held on the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status, but added that Pakistan had not granted MFN status to India because of India’s non-tariff barriers, and if they were removed then the status could be granted to India.
The source said the Petroleum Ministry supported import of petroleum products from India, while the Agriculture Ministry thought import of agriculture machinery and food products would help curtail inflation. Both sides also agreed to launch a cargo train. During the talks, he said, the Pakistani side felt that rice imports could rise because of a 10 percent duty on the Pakistani side, while India had a duty of 80 percent.
The source said that there was consensus on opening up the markets as reliance on each other for imports would help sideline the stance of hardcore elements. “I believe that this meeting will take the dialogue process forward and by the end of the meeting all issues relating to facilitation and promotion of bilateral trade could be addressed with consensus,” the AFP news agency quoted Mehmood as saying.
His Indian counterpart Rahul Khullar called for a quick turnaround of trade after four previous rounds of commerce talks ground to a halt in the wake of the Mumbai attacks. “This is a process that was interrupted and that must resume and go on. It must acquire significantly fast momentum if only to catch up for the time that we have lost,” he said.
Mehmood said the current figures of Pakistan’s export and import with India stood at $300 million and $1.3 billion respectively.
