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Most favoured nation status for India sought
Indian industry demands opening of rail route for container movement.
NEW DEHLI:
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has called on Pakistan to grant India the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status, and has also sought the opening of rail route between the two countries for movement of containers through land route.
These proposals were part of a set of recommendations submitted by the Punjab unit of CII to the state government of Punjab, discussing how trade with Pakistan across Wagha border could be boosted.
CII Amritsar Zonal Council Chairman Suneet Kochhar, in the recommendations, said that a proposed integrated checkpost at Wagha should be connected with the eastern freight corridor and extended to Amritsar.
He said cold chain and warehousing facilities for perishable commodities were essential on the Pakistan side. Besides, a fully developed railway siding at the Attari railway station with storages and other facilities would help in the movement of goods.
Kochhar said there was no government list in India which could specify the items being exported and imported, adding such a list should be drawn up and updated at regular intervals.
He hoped that with the forthcoming integrated checkpost, the problem of a common entry point at the border for movement of pedestrians, passengers, private vehicles, and goods carriers would be resolved. “This will also ease the pressure on movement of goods with an independent gate for these goods,” he said.
Other suggestions include sharing of list of respective holidays by Indian and Pakistani authorities with each other and also with the trading community as this would prevent goods of perishable nature being left at the border because of absence of officials due to a holiday or a non-working day. Additionally, the issue of difficulty in issuance of visas to the business community of both sides was also highlighted.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 27th, 2011.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has called on Pakistan to grant India the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status, and has also sought the opening of rail route between the two countries for movement of containers through land route.
These proposals were part of a set of recommendations submitted by the Punjab unit of CII to the state government of Punjab, discussing how trade with Pakistan across Wagha border could be boosted.
CII Amritsar Zonal Council Chairman Suneet Kochhar, in the recommendations, said that a proposed integrated checkpost at Wagha should be connected with the eastern freight corridor and extended to Amritsar.
He said cold chain and warehousing facilities for perishable commodities were essential on the Pakistan side. Besides, a fully developed railway siding at the Attari railway station with storages and other facilities would help in the movement of goods.
Kochhar said there was no government list in India which could specify the items being exported and imported, adding such a list should be drawn up and updated at regular intervals.
He hoped that with the forthcoming integrated checkpost, the problem of a common entry point at the border for movement of pedestrians, passengers, private vehicles, and goods carriers would be resolved. “This will also ease the pressure on movement of goods with an independent gate for these goods,” he said.
Other suggestions include sharing of list of respective holidays by Indian and Pakistani authorities with each other and also with the trading community as this would prevent goods of perishable nature being left at the border because of absence of officials due to a holiday or a non-working day. Additionally, the issue of difficulty in issuance of visas to the business community of both sides was also highlighted.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 27th, 2011.