FM says govt to ‘seriously’ consider reviving trade with India

Ishaq Dar says govt will implement a five-year road map for economic progress

LONDON:

In a significant development, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday expressed intentions to reconsider trade relations with India, suspended since India's controversial move to revoke the special autonomous status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in August 2019.

Dar made these remarks during a press conference in London, following his participation in the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels. He highlighted the eagerness of Pakistan's business community to resume trade activities with India, indicating a potential shift in diplomatic stance towards its neighbouring nation.

The strained relations between Pakistan and India ensued after India's unilateral action in August 2019, prompting then-prime minister Imran Khan's government to downgrade diplomatic ties with India.

Read more: Pakistan suspended trade: India

“We will seriously look into matters of trade with India,” he said while responding to a question. The foreign minister mentioned that the relations between the two neighbouring countries faced a setback after India revoked the constitutional and legal status of IIOJK in August 2019.

FM Dar pointed out that the 16-month government of Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif saved Pakistan from economic collapse after the bad policies of the previous government which devastated the economy of the country.

Dar said that the government would implement a five-year road map to put Pakistan on the road to economic progress and bring down inflation to lessen the economic difficulties of the common man.

He said that Pakistan had a vision for nuclear energy since the 1960s and despite the scrutiny of the world, it continued to harness the benefits of nuclear energy. “Now the world is saying that nuclear and hydro energy are the safest and best for taking on the challenge of climate change.”

Also read: Rethinking and adopting new trade strategies

He said that the previous governments of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) completed various nuclear projects and 3,800 megawatts of electricity were added to the national grid.

While representing Pakistan at the recent nuclear energy summit in Brussels, the FM said that he called for aggressive financing from international financial institutions and multilateral institutions.

“Nuclear energy is expensive but environmentally friendly, and the world needs it. We are ready to share our expertise with the global community,” he added.

FM Dar said that Pakistan was emitting less than one per cent of the global carbon emissions but was among the 10 most climate-vulnerable countries in the world. “Pakistan was devastated by the worst floods in its history in the recent past, and the federal government, in collaboration with the provinces, spent Rs100 billion on the relief and rehabilitation of flood-affected people,” he added.

He said on the sidelines of the nuclear energy summit, he also held bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan, UAE, and the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

During meetings with the foreign ministers of Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Azerbaijan, they agreed to enhance cooperation in areas of trade, investment, defence, and the economy.

During the meeting with the Turkish foreign minister, both countries agreed to enhance the bilateral trade volume.

The minister said that he had a productive meeting with the Director-General of IAEA who had visited Pakistan at the inauguration of the C5 nuclear power project.

He said that during his meeting with the foreign minister of the UAE, they agreed to enhance cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. He also held a substantive meeting with the Chinese Vice President and exchanged views on diverse areas of cooperation, and he agreed to visit Pakistan in the future, he added.

“China was an all-weather friend of Pakistan who supported Pakistan on all issues and at international forums,” he remarked. He also talked about his meetings with ministers of the United Kingdom, during which it was agreed that the UK government would further invest in development projects in Pakistan.

He expressed best wishes for King Charles and the Princess of Wales who were diagnosed with cancer.

To a question about Congressional hearings in the United States about matters related to Pakistan, he urged that Pakistanis should leave behind politics when they were outside the country and get united.

To a question about elections, Dar said, “We have comprehensive constitutional and legal cover for elections”, adding different parties got the mandate of the people and it should be accepted.”

He said that legal forums were available to address election-related complaints, and any person could approach the Election Commission of Pakistan, election tribunals, and the higher judiciary.

Dar said that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur had agreed to work with the federal government, which was a positive development.

He recalled that Pakistan had suffered a lot due to policy failures, adding that due to the successful policies of the last government of Nawaz Sharif, inflation came down, the economy grew, and the international financial institutions acknowledged the economic achievements of Pakistan.

The minister said that after the attack on the Army Public School, a national action plan was devised, and it was decided not to allow the use of Pakistani territory against any other country.

He said that the leadership in Afghanistan should condemn the terrorist attacks in Pakistan which were carried out by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) based in Afghanistan.

“We carried out an intelligence-based anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan against the terror group,” he said.

He said that neighbouring countries should eliminate terrorism through mutual cooperation. Responding to a question, he said that Pakistan needed to get out of the trap of budget deficit and the current account deficit.

Dar said that economic diplomacy was a top priority of the government and that the new finance minister, Muhammad Aurangzeb, had all the expertise to deal with the economic issues of Pakistan.

The minister said that the government was trying its best for the resumption of flights of Pakistan International Airlines after meeting all the international requirements for compliance. “We are keen for the resumption of PIA flights, and it is a matter of weeks after which flights will be initiated.”

He further said that he would also look into the complaints about the closure of the social media platform X in Pakistan.