Cross-border investment: JI sees trap in Indian opportunity

Munawar, Baloch urge Pakistanis to refuse offer of ‘enemy number one’.

LAHORE:

Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) has called India’s decision to allow Pakistanis to invest in the country “a trap.”

In a statement issued on Thursday, JI Amir Munawar Hasan said the permission to allow Pakistanis to invest in India was part of a plan to destablise Pakistan. He said businessmen must not fall in the “trap set by Pakistan’s enemy number one.”

He said India has built 62 dams on rivers flowing into Pakistan to turn it into a desert. “They want to destroy our industry and agriculture to force us to import everything from India,” he said.

He said it was part of New Delhi’s plot to become the “regional policeman” with US backing.

He said the government of Pakistan had been helping India in its designs.

He said the current energy crisis had been created to compel local capitalists to shift their capital abroad. “Almost 40 per cent of the country’s industries have already shifted to Bangladesh. The rest will be tempted by India’s offer,” he said.

He said Pakistan’s hands were being tied by opening up trade with India. He said each step had compromised the country’s sovereignty. “The enemy violates our borders every day but neither the armed forces nor the government care,” he said.

In another statement the JI general secretary Liaqat Baloch said the Indian move allow Pakistani investment was a conspiracy. He said India had started by declaring Pakistan the most favoured nation for trade and Islamabad has reciprocated.

“Trade between the two neighbours has resulted in losses for Pakistan and profits for India,” he said.

Baloch said Kashmir, the life line of Pakistan, was still occupied by India. He also said India was sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan. He said Pakistani capitalists should demonstrate their love for the country by turning down the Indian offer.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 3^rd, 2012.