ISLAMABAD: A proposed government plan to grant India the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status suffered multiple shocks on Thursday when the main opposition party, a bipartisan parliamentary panel on Kashmir and pro-establishment political outfits opposed it in unison.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar informed the National Assembly last week that the government had, in principle, decided to give India MFN status and a formal announcement was likely any time.
It is, however, not known whether the decision has the backing of the military-dominated establishment, which says that most of the threats to the country’s security and territorial integrity are emanating from the east.
The loudest opposition to the plan came from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) which said it did not want war with India but had ‘serious concerns’ on giving New Delhi the MFN, a privilege through which one country gives trade concessions to the other.
A parliament’s special committee on Kashmir, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam- Fazl (JUI-F) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) also joined the chorus against what is seen as a big leap forward to normalise relations between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
Speaking at a news conference here, National Assembly Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said his PML-N party had doubts that any concession to India would ever make it change its stance on Kashmir.
“I tell you, it is unrealistic to think that India will give up its hard line on Kashmir,” said Nisar in a statement in sharp contradiction to a recent public speech by PML-N President Nawaz Sharif in which he advocated cordial relations between the rivals, a position that earned him a barrage of criticism from other political factions.
“Trade with India should not be at the cost of Kashmir,” the opposition leader added. “We should not expect New Delhi to alter its position, because Musharraf gave them several concessions but none worked.”
One of Nisar’s objections to the proposal was that neither the opposition party nor the parliament was taken into confidence prior to taking a decision which touched national interest. “There must have been a parliamentary debate on it,” he argued.
In a separate statement, the secretariat of the All-Party Kashmir Committee urged the government to withdraw the plan because it was “not in accordance with the aspirations of millions of countrymen”.
“We will not let the government grant India MFN status because it never consulted us on the issue,” said JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who is also chief of the Kashmir Affairs Committee.
“We have written our dissenting notes to the foreign and commerce ministries on the issue,” said Rehman.
The JI – a political party with little presence in the parliament but considerable street power – also asked the government to withdraw its decision and extend its full support to the Kashmir liberation movement.
Concerned about the ECP and NAB
At his news conference, Nisar also criticised the government for ignoring enacting a correspondence law in pursuance of last year’s 18th constitutional amendment to give legal cover to the appointment of members to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Chaudhry said that by delaying the key legislation, the government wanted to keep the ECP under constant pressure ahead of general elections.
He also said that in the next couple of days the PML-N would file a petition in the Supreme Court to challenge the appointment of Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari as the chief of the National Accountability Bureau.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2011.
COMMENTS (52)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
They should put the politicians in the coal mines. They actually like digging holes until something explodes in their face. There's also clean air that smells like roses on all sides of them for at least the distance of a city block. Their very presence will be a blessing for the workers.
Javed: "MFN or no MFN, the way India is progressing it would be stupid for Indian held Kashmir to join Pakistan. In fact if we don’t mend our ways, our part of Kashmir will start asking to join them. Prosperity attracts while poverty repels."
Wonderfully explained. The Indian side of Kashmir is infatuated with God knows what, and their thinking may not be rational, but the Pakistani side is not love-struck. With better communication available now a days, the Azad Kashmir people will soon start to see the difference and your prophecy may come out to be true!
@Parvez+Mahmud:
Not upset sir!! It's funny!! India's trade volume is about $450billion and Pakistan is nowhere among the trade partners of India!! But the Pakistani politicians are acting as if they are providing a great favour to India!!! - not knowing it was something which they are required to do anyway under international trade rules!! And then even trying to link it to Kashmir, when at the same time wheels are coming off in rest of the country and faces bankruptcy and international isolation !!What delusion!!
Why trade more with india ? it will just damage pakistani industries since we have less economies of scale and cause more indian influence on pak and weak our position to protect our interest in negotiations
as for india opposing EU deal.did pakistan ever oppose a single indian trade deal ? just shows indian attitide towards pakistan, they want to keep us weak and under control. why help them ?
Indo-pak trade is 75%(4 billion dollars) in indians favour. they have many hidden barriors.indians like to pretend they have given us MFN status just like they pretend pakistani players are not banned from IPL.
MFN or no MFN, the way India is progressing it would be stupid for Indian held Kashmir to join Pakistan. In fact if we don’t mend our ways, our part of Kashmir will start asking to join them. Prosperity attracts while poverty repels.
This is opposition for sake of opposition. No big deal.
Pakistan continues to follow self-destructive policies ie supporting terror and sectarian organisations, antgonising its minorities and creating a BD situation, spending forty percent of its budget on defence instead of investing in trade, electricity to boost its economy, spending its aid and resources against anti-India activities rather than doing trade with India in order to get out of its economic mess.
Fankly, If Indians dont care about it, then why oh why, are there so many Indians in here taking time to comment on this "not-worthy-useless" news? In a democracy, parliament has to be taken on board. Its as simple as that. Parliamentarians have the right to question the government on such issues. For enlightenment purposes, go check how the US congress debated FTA with South Korea. Colombia, etc.
India should revoke the MFN status it gave to Pakistan thinking it will generate positive reciprocal action from Pakistan. It has just done the opposite and failed. India should also not remove its objections to Europe giving preferential trade concessions to Pakistan at the cost of Indian exports. That makes no sense.
Total isolation and disengagement from Pakistan is what Pakistan desires and India must reciprocate that.
@Parvez+Mahmud:
Good try? We Indians are not. It is pittance to us. We Indians are just trying to help your economy. India is the fourth largest economy on Purchasing Power Parity, why would we be upset?
I understand that the confusion arises out of MFN being translated in Urdu as sabe pyara mulk* which causes some heartburn in Pakistan when related to India. Why not translate it as deegar mulkon ke barabar ka darja*? That might just make the ignorant a bit more comfortable.
@Parvez+Mahmud: Because we do not need Afghanistan like situation in our neighborhood you smart lad.. Do you even realize what Taliban of Afghanistan has done to Pakistan? It is dragging Pakistan to stone age.
@Umar: "Kashmir issue needs courage of both the countries, but hardliners such as BJP and JI and their mentality do not want it to solve the problem rationally." DOn't equate BJP with JI. BJP Prime Minister had come to India and signed the Lahore peace treaty with Pakistan. He was stabbed in the back for Kargill. HE still wanted to pursue peace so in 2001 July Musharraf was invited to Agra.
They do not have the blind hatred for non-Hindus that JI people seem to have for non-Muslims. It is during their term that Abdul Kalaam was made President of India and many Indians would say that he was probably one of the best 2/3 Presidents that India has ever had.
The Issue Should've Been Brought in the parliament , so that there was a consensus on the issue. bypassing the Parliament in democracy is unethical!
How about a referendum in Pakistan to see if Majority of Pakistani's want to win Kashmir at the cost of peace, stability and progress?
Supporting a Kashmir cause, need not be at the cost of the above. You can have trade, progress and peace while differing on a few issues.
But, if we don't make progress on other issues, and keep talking of only one issue, our relationship will be uni-dimensional and welfare of close to 1.4billion people will be held hostage to an outcome, that in reality only has any meaning to less than 20million people (of Kashmir).
So, it is best to let time solve the Kashmir issue and improve our lots.
Lets award the Most Unflavored Nation Status on India.
kashmir ,kashmir ,kashmir...cant pak think beyond it,this is vote politics .pakistan to benefit from MFN STATUS TO iNDIA
@Parvez+Mahmud: India's trade is around $600+ billion..with Pakistan, it's around $2 billion..with MFN, may go around $4-5 billion..now, do your maths and decide who will be the loser..The reason for upset is MFN status was used as a bargain chip to seek concessions from India on the EU exports issue which benefits Pakistan to the tune of 700 million Euros..So, its more of committment of your words and trust...not so much on material value..If India hits back EU objections and cancellation of her MFN status to Pak (since 2005)..decide who'll be the loser
to all indians... pakistanis don't want peace, trade, money, dollars, prosperity, development, democracy, rule of law, evolution, hope, dream etc etc.... they just want kashmir..... whatever destruction it will bring to pakistan, even if they will eat grass for next 1000 years...are you listening... they want just kashmir. so stop preaching / advising them.
Only brainwashed or brainless individuals would oppose the MFN status to India, since it benefits Pakistan more than India.
Dear Pak citizens,
3 news items in Indian news papers shows what you guys have missed in the last 60+ years, wasted running behind Kashmir.
1) India's GP F1 curcuit opened 2) Bangalore gets its first Metro (operational for public from today) 3) Court questions Tamil Nadu chief minister about unaccounted money and another chief minister sent to Jail for favouring his family on a land deal
Its Development, democracy, rule of law, progress, evolution, hope, dreams & finally that hope that dreams will come true
All the best
Come on now. Don't give India MFN status. If that makes people in Pakistan happy. Afterall you could have got access to 1.2 billion+ consumer market for your goods. Sharief brothers can afford to ignore this market, but can SMEs of PAkistan?
Why you Indians so upset if it is insignificant?
I had wrote this in earlier forums, I repeat it again,
Kashmir saw the rise of India as an economical super power and also the decline of Pakistan to 12th failed state among the international communities. Harp about Kashmir endlessly, good luck to Pakistan.
Why is it that only Pakistan keeps harping about Kashmir? Why dont any of the other members of the OIC take it up? We need to put our own house in order then think about helping others. The sooner we get over this Kashmir phobia the sooner this country will start to be what it was meant to be ie a secular, modern islamic state.
What these fools do not realise is that Pakistan came begging to India to get the Europe trade concession through. In return it had to do this. Whosever wants to scrap this deal is in reality saying go back to India and scrap the access to European markets that India has allowed Pakistan. That would indeed take these innocent imbeciles back to the stone age.
First of all - the Indian proxy war was executed to divert attention from Kashmir. Pakistan is fully aware of that. Pakistanis stand for principles regardless of the adversities imposed upon them through the Indian terror activities. Kashmir stands on its own merits and will not be compromised or distracted. It is the oldest UN and human right issue and UN owes it to the people of Kashmir and Pakistan will honor that. Therefore, to reward India with MFN status a country that has committed genocide on the Kashmiris and refuse to give them their UN legal rights of freedom is an insult to the cause of Kashmir. Kashmir issue need to be settled first and then only India should be given concessions. Pakistan has many other options for business other than India.
You know what. India can keep Kashmir. The province seems to have caused more trouble then its worth. Lets just concentrate on hanging on to whats left of the country. We grew up eharing the slogan "Kashmir bannega Pakistan". The interesting part is that the Kashmiris themselves have never ever raised this slogan so if they themselves dont wish to be a part of Pakistan then lets just grant them this wish.
I think even Indians do not want MFN status... It is actually political bargain for EU concessions....
People in India are least enthusiatic about MFN status.
Newspapers hardly talk about it....
Personal Opinion : MFN status though India will benefit ; Indians like me wont want it...
India can sustain the loss of MFN status but can Pakistan survive the loss of MFN status. Pakis should consider where their financial weel being lies. A penurious state cannot afford to bring extraneous issues to bear on economic considerations.
MFN is only a cosmetic thing; India has many other non tariff barriers which impede trade with Pakistan. The issue needs to be looked at from holistic point of view and not the 'key-hole' perspective which is prevalent both in India and Pakistan -
hehehe..good joke...then be fighting till u eat grass( not my sentence, its your own)
Do these fools even realize that Pakistan will generate Billions of $ and create millions of job by trade with India? They dont want Pakistan to beg but at the same time are rejecting Trade.
For India trade with Pakistan is like a drop in the ocean. It deals with Billions with other Countries. For Pakistan, it is HUGE!
Pakistan hasn't gained an inch on Kashmir since 1948. That was when India was weak. Now, it is counted as a future Super Power. How on Earth are they expecting India to give up Kashmir?
when india had already given MFN status to Pakistan, I dont understand whats harm in giving MFN status to India. Situation on Kasmir remains same even after giving MFN to India but bilateral trade will increase which pakistan needs very badly as this situation.
great, then forget India giving concessions on EU trade and allowing Pak exports. Indians must be laughing at our immaturity, that time and again we commit something internationally, but never ever fulfill promises. No doubt no one takes us seriously on any matter what so ever. On one hand we beg everyone including India to give trade concessions while on the other put a chaotic show in house to confuse everyone including us. We are turning out to be laughing stock of the world from America to Europe to Asia... very sad state of affairs...
Oh well. India is not the looser in the bargain. I am sure India will also revoke the PAK MFN status, if things get worse.
But I am sure after the usual political chest thumping, the MFN will go thorough at the PAK end. PAK is not in a position to bargain if she wants EU trade concessions from India.
Kashmir- by now PAK should know how much devastation it has caused her. Save what you have should be the policy going forward.
If PAK people think that india Kashmir is more important than Waziristan or Baluchistan, then no hope for PAK. Kashmir in India has moved along and when BJP comes to power they will take a hard line stance on Kashmir issue with PAK. At that time, Americans will be gone in Afghanistan and PAK has to stretch thin her resources, both on east and west.