India will again press for normalisation of trade with Pakistan when commerce secretaries of the two countries meet in the second week of November, Indian media reported on Sunday.
The commerce secretary-level talks are being held within two months of India-Pakistan trade ministers meeting, which reviewed the bilateral commercial engagement. Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma had hosted his Pakistani counterpart Makhdoom Amin Fahim in September. “Essentially, we will review the progress of the agenda set in Islamabad in April,” a senior official of the Indian Commerce Ministry official told NDTV.
The two countries had resumed economic talks after a long gap in April and had drawn a roadmap for increasing the bilateral trade which has remained at a low level of $2.65 billion in 2010-11. Pakistan Commerce Secretary Zafar Mahmood would be in India for three days from November 14 for comprehensive discussions with his Indian counterpart Rahul Khullar, the official said. The main roadblock in pushing the bilateral trade is the restrictions on imports of most of the Indian merchandise in Pakistan.
India has been pressing for an arrangement through which the neighbouring country opens trade with New Delhi on all but few items. This is what is followed by India, which allows imports of all Pakistani items except a small number of goods in the negative list. Like in past, India will build further pressure on Pakistan to agree for the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) treatment for New Delhi.
There is a concern among Pakistani industry that the Indian exporters may flood the Pakistani market with their merchandise once normal trade is allowed. The feeling comes from the imbalance in the bilateral trade against Pakistan.