Granting of non-discriminatory trade of Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India will enable Pakistan to save around $3 billion per annum on account of freight charges due to significant reduction in distances.
Customs sources told INP on Thursday that such an arrangement will also save up to Rs 300 billion on account of patents and royalty fees as it would be cheaper with India as compared to higher costs of rights from Japan, US and EU.
These sources said the modern industrialised India could be a gateway to industrialisation in Pakistan, especially in fish processing, agricultural products and electronics. As distance between Pakistan and India is lesser, trade between the two countries could pay rich dividends even on account of perishable commodities such as fruit, vegetables and other agricultural products.
The sources said many medicines are very costly in Pakistan and multi-national companies are sucking the blood of poor people of Pakistan by selling medicines on extremely exorbitant prices. However, these medicines are very cheap in India and Pakistan by opening up trade corridors can benefit from these cheap medicines. Pakistani markets could also benefit from some chemicals made in India which are of high quality. By opening up land routes, Pakistan could benefit from Indian products and save a lot of money in terms of travel charges on long Sea routes.
These sources said Pakistan could also benefit from the Indian IT market which provides education and other facilities at very cheaper rates. The auto sector of India is another area from where Pakistan could reap huge benefits. The local manufacturers have failed to provide vehicles to Pakistanis at affordable prices.
Another area where Pakistan could cash in is power sector of India. The sources said the energy starved Pakistan could benefit from India’s advances in energy sector.
Trade with India will also benefit Pakistan from defence point of view as the neighbouring country will think about its huge loss of economy and market before any aggression. The MFN status to India would be another BRB Canal which India will psychologically fear to cross.
Pakistan could also cash in on religious tourism potential. There are many Hindu places of worship in Pakistan. If facilities are provided, Pakistan can become a great destination of religious tourism for Hindus of India, Nepal and other countries.
The map of India shown on the wrist of the illustrated handshake shows the whole of Kashmir as Indian, but the Pakistani drawing doesn’t.
Come out of the traditional mind set so that we can open new windows for the up liftment of our poor people may be we can be on the top of the world in next 30 to 40 yrs
when both the countries would have been stuck in large trade then india will must think before applying any wrong policy or dicion egarding Kashmir aswell . and this is so natural and logical to give india status of mfn if we see from business point of view.
Any Idea what will happen to agriculture and industrial sector in Pakistan??? if India inundates Pakistani Markets with her vegetables and products (not forgetting that India has provided its farmers in Border areas with a lot of subsidies which will make their agricultural products cheaper than our own indigenous products) then Pakistani farmers and industrialists will close down and starve. Govt of Pakistan must adopt protectionist policies besides giving subsidies to own farmers and industrialists before doing such kinda business with India……. doing business is good idea but….. at what cost?
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