Pakistan could be South Asia’s trade hub, says The Hindu

Pakistan lies at the heart of a rapidly-transforming world around its land borders and reopening the historical East-West-North trade routes and linking them with a strong North-South corridor will make it the trade hub of South Asia. “And trade hubs, that lower cost of transporting materials and people, are precursors of industrial hubs that produce sustained economic growth,” said a report carried by The Hindu, an Indian newspaper and contributed by Ijaz Nabi, a visiting faculty of the Lahore University of Management Sciences under the headline “Lifting up the Indo-Pak trade game” on Wednesday.According to The Hindu, to the North and East are the skills and savings-rich economies of China and India with a combined population of over 2 billion growing at 8 percent or more. “To the West are resource rich Central Asia, Iran and the Persian Gulf states. Reopening the historical East-West-North trade routes and linking them with a strong North-South corridor will make Pakistan the trade hub of South Asia. And trade hubs, that lower cost of transporting materials and people, are precursors of industrial hubs that produce sustained economic growth,” it reported. The Hindu reported that this was the strategic vision that should guide Pakistan’s trade relations with all its neighbours, including India, and not the short-term cost-benefit analysis of the impact of liberalisation on some niche manufacturers. “And how should India lift up its game? All paths to economic development and prosperity do not have to be routed through sweat shops catering to affluent western consumers. A large and vibrant Asian regional market would constitute a significant and, given demographic shifts, growing part of global demand for products. India’s long-term strategic interest is to help create that Asian market. That, in turn, requires strengthening Pakistan to be an effective regional hub that connects the Asia-wide market”, it said.