Thawing ties: Indian commerce minister due today
Sharma will be leaving for Lahore to hold trade talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Makhdoom Amin Fahim.
NEW DELHI:
India is committed to removing barriers that restrict trade with Pakistan, the country’s Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said on Sunday.
“We want to build bridges of confidence and trust which is imperative to promote two-way trade between the two countries,” Sharma told a news conference in New Delhi ahead of his visit to Pakistan.
Sharma will be leaving for Lahore on Monday, via the Wagah border, to take part in a three-day ‘India Show’ and hold trade talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Makhdoom Amin Fahim. The visit comes in the wake of a recent rapprochement between the two countries and signs of warming in their fractious relations.
An array of legal and regulatory barriers has restricted official exchanges to $2.7 billion but Sharma said he was hopeful the sum would jump in the coming years.
“We hope to double this figure in a three-year period. Once direct trade through (the) land route is facilitated, there will be a manifold increase,” said Sharma, who will head a 120-strong delegation of business leaders and officials.
At present, Pakistan maintains a list of 1,945 items allowed to run from India to Pakistan, only 108 of which can be trafficked directly by road through Wagah.
Pakistan granted India ‘Most-Favoured Nation’ status last year, paving the way for a radical reorganisation of trade. In 1996, India had granted Pakistan a similar status, intended to remove discriminatory higher pricing and duty tariffs.
Sharma said Pakistan had shown the willingness to move “towards a regime which deepens and diversifies our trade,” and India, on its part, was working towards visa reforms. Deepening economic engagement is seen as crucial to establishing lasting peace between the two neighbours.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 13th, 2012.
India is committed to removing barriers that restrict trade with Pakistan, the country’s Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said on Sunday.
“We want to build bridges of confidence and trust which is imperative to promote two-way trade between the two countries,” Sharma told a news conference in New Delhi ahead of his visit to Pakistan.
Sharma will be leaving for Lahore on Monday, via the Wagah border, to take part in a three-day ‘India Show’ and hold trade talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Makhdoom Amin Fahim. The visit comes in the wake of a recent rapprochement between the two countries and signs of warming in their fractious relations.
An array of legal and regulatory barriers has restricted official exchanges to $2.7 billion but Sharma said he was hopeful the sum would jump in the coming years.
“We hope to double this figure in a three-year period. Once direct trade through (the) land route is facilitated, there will be a manifold increase,” said Sharma, who will head a 120-strong delegation of business leaders and officials.
At present, Pakistan maintains a list of 1,945 items allowed to run from India to Pakistan, only 108 of which can be trafficked directly by road through Wagah.
Pakistan granted India ‘Most-Favoured Nation’ status last year, paving the way for a radical reorganisation of trade. In 1996, India had granted Pakistan a similar status, intended to remove discriminatory higher pricing and duty tariffs.
Sharma said Pakistan had shown the willingness to move “towards a regime which deepens and diversifies our trade,” and India, on its part, was working towards visa reforms. Deepening economic engagement is seen as crucial to establishing lasting peace between the two neighbours.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 13th, 2012.