A most significant development, the granting of the Most Favoured Nation status to India. What this means, to the uninitiated, is that India’s exports are going to be treated exactly the way exports from other countries are. Lest the churlish get all worked up over this, the Indians gave us the MFN status back in 1996.
The right-wing parties have spoken out against the decision. Interestingly, the profile of this group, the one that opposes the peace-through-trade initiatives, has started occupying the far right end of the political spectrum. The mainstream right and centre-right parties, the Muslim Leagues, particularly Nawaz Sharif’s faction, have become staunch advocates of such plans. The normalisation of trade ties between the two countries looks like a foregone conclusion, despite being scuttled occasionally by certain unfortunate events.
The reason for all this is that though certain segments might be hit initially, it is a win-win situation for both sides. Consumers on both sides of the border will benefit because of surpluses in particular crops on either side. And since the global food crisis extends to India as well, the relative prosperity that the agricultural community has been enjoying of late owing to a rise in prices, won’t be interrupted. Once the immediate problems of competition hits the Pakistani farmers of certain crops, there can be an adjustment period following which freer trade between the countries will do everyone good.
Gone is the erstwhile “Hindu growth rate” of India. Gross inequalities in the Indian economy aside, there is impressive absolute growth in India that should spill over into neighbouring countries if there is free enough trade.
Of course, certain apprehensions can be more than addressed by the Indians. If they were to work on non-tariff barriers and the troublesome visa restrictions (which, granted, both sides have) they can go a long way in making the dream of a freer subcontinent true.