In the case of MFN, we are not giving any concession to India; we are simply reciprocating a step that New Delhi has already taken by offering Pakistan the MFN status. But every time an official move appears to be in the offing in this respect, Hafiz Saeed, the head of the Jamatud Daawa, brings his hordes on the street protesting the move. What Hafiz Saeed and his sponsors refuse to see in their twisted wisdom is that increased trade with our more developed neighbour would bring down considerably our dependence on foreign dole (which compromises greatly our sovereignty) as our import bill would go down drastically, at least in the case of intermediaries and raw materials, which at present we are importing paying prohibitive freight costs from far off euro, dollar and sterling markets. Even many of the essential but costly finished goods which we are currently importing from overseas, we can fabricate more economically within the country by importing the required components and skilled manpower from India. In return, Pakistan would get a massive Indian market to explore. The huge difference in the exchange rate between the currencies of the two countries would make our goods highly competitive in India.
And the street is also opposed to allowing India transit trade facility as the forces with street power have been given to understand that this would throw our doors wide open for the Indian spy machine to operate freely in our country.
Every country has spies to spy on other countries, especially on neighbours and more especially those neighbours with whom they have gone to war a number of times. India, I am sure, already has a number of its agents in our country as, I assume, we have our own in India. Our job is not to close shop in order to keep these spies from spying on us but to continue on the road to progress and development in spite of these spies; of course, there are a number of measures one can take, if one has the will and the appropriate skills, to neutralise the operations of foreign spies to a great extent. If we assess the issue of allowing transit trade facility to India unemotionally and purely in economic terms, we would not miss the immense benefits that would accrue to Pakistan at a minimum cost that we would be required to pay for keeping a close eye on Indian spies in Pakistan.
Also, let us not make the offer of MFN status to India conditional to the start of a composite dialogue or that of transit trade facility conditional to the resolution of the Kashmir issue because then India would be justified in making composite dialogue conditional to bringing the culprits of the Mumbai massacre to book by Pakistan and to verifiable closure of all jihadi training camps in Pakistan and Azad Kashmir. On its part, India should also stop playing so hard to get. It should accept Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s unconditional offer of friendship. Even the army leadership has said that it is on the same page with the PM on his declared India policy. We lost our best chance to normalise relations with India at the time of the Agra summit when General (retd) Musharraf tried to overreach by refusing to renounce militancy in return for a final settlement of the Kashmir issue.
Today, India has the chance of getting a most favourable settlement of all issues with Pakistan. It should grab the chance with both hands and free the teeming millions of the subcontinent from the perpetual fear of a war-in-the-offing and that, too, a nuclear one.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 16th, 2013.
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COMMENTS (87)
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@author,
A very good analysis and good advice. Just one point"
"On its part, India should also stop playing so hard to get. It should accept Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s unconditional offer of friendship."
The last time India "stopped playing so hard to get", it was stabbed in the back with the Kargil invasion when the same Nawaz Sharif was the PM. Since then Pakistan has engineered dozens of attacks on India killing over 8000 people, including the Mumbai attack and the attack on the Indian parliament. Right now, Pakistani terrorists are being pushed in to Kashmir in the past one year.
So, can you really blame India for "playing so hard to get"? You are not being honest with yourself when you try to draw moral equivalency between India and Pakistan.
As for MFN, while it is important to Pakistan, it really doesn't matter to India. India has done very well without any trade with Pakistan. Nevertheless, I do agree with your sentiment for peace between the two countries.
@Vakil: Indian commentators seem to be reflecting their one sided anti Pakistani sentiments.Midhat on the other hand is suggesting that no country is clean. The comments were quite balanced with self aadmittance of failures. He simply suggested that Indians need to come out of illusion that theirs is the perfect angelic govt.
Moderator I am still waiting for my comment to get posted please. "Since Pakistan needs convincing what is good for it, I think India should put all this in deep freeze and focus on the doable in the east with Bangladesh regarding trade; transit; water; land boundary; power exchange; oil and gas; steel; land route and connectivity to Thailand through Myanmar; connecting Chittagong port to North East thereby benefiting both; people to people contacts etc and revisit Indo-Pak relations after another decade. Status quo has not hurt any one so far...why are we so obsessed with Indo-Pak relations, when a lot more can be done in the East with both Awami League and BNP? It will be a win-win relationship. Also keep working with Iran, Chabahar and through it Afghanistan and Central Asia. In any case Saudis, Iraqis, Turks, Israelis and Gulf States have no problem with growing trade with India. $2-5 billion with Pakistan which anyway is happening through third party countries will not matter (except for some traders in bordering Indian Punjab). In the next 5 years India's foreign trade is expected to grow from $800 billion to a $1 trillion so let us not obsess about MFN from Pakistan. Meanwhile talk to Mullah Omar and not just Karzai and deal with LeT, JeM etc as they come. Sharief has been great talker whether it is about Indo-Pak relations or solving power crisis or fixing the economy or even his favourite topic of peace with Taliban. There is simply no action on talk. So be civil and carry on.... SK Mumbai
@ali: yep, exactly like you said Osama was not present in Pakistan. Pakistan has been blackmailing the rest of the world with terrorist. That is the only export you guys have to the rest of the world. shame on people like you.
@abd: Pakistanis are absent not because they are busy with Idd-related activities, but because there is not much for them to defend!
India is surely an elder brother to Pakistan & behaves like one. Even Indians like me who feel friendly with Pakistan know that Pakistan is in dire straits in every way: economy, social problems, self-destroying militancy, too much interference of religious leaders AND military in the matters of State, everything! So why not mellow down & seek India's friendship?
And why this obsession with Kashmir when Pakistan has 'awarded' a portion of erstwhile Kashmir State it has occupied? If they can do such a settlent of land-for-peace deal with China, why not with India?
Come what may, India will never ever cede Kashmir to Pakistan. Kashmiris also don't want to go & be a part of Pakistan (who would, anyway?) . They say they want Azadi! So Pakistan should leave it to Kashmiris & Indians!
The only way out is accepting the inevitable & make peace!
Pakistani journalists should try to open the eyes of fellow-Pakistanis to this reality.
@Midhat: Comments like yours show just how deeply the mindset of the average Pakistani is against India, no matter how many sane voices there may be (like the author) among your midst. As they say, the citizens of a country get the kind of leaders they deserve, and indeed they get the fate that they deserve as well, based on the actions and the guiding MINDSET that they have! Seeing the direction Pakistan is heading none of this comes as a surprise... most Pakistanis seem caught up in a time-warp of the period of around 1947 (or perhaps even earlier) .... the world has long since moved on, with only the "Land of the Pure" left far behind. But then again if that is what makes and keeps you guys happy, be my guest to CARRY ON for evermore...
If you are so smart as Exec. Editor of ET, you should let all sane non-abusive comments pass rather than let your moderators picks and choose.
Something needs to be done about all the Indians commenting on this site. Pakistanis are mostly busy with Eid related activities so this section is filled with Indians. Limit the number of comments by Indians. It is easily done with geoip mapping databases. But maybe ET is not interested in that because the ad revenue from Indian traffic must be materially significant now.
If something is not done this site will turn into an Indian news site. Maybe ET can move their offices from Lahore/Karachi to New Delhi/Mumbai.
@Pradhan: Exactly my point! Our side of the story is always the lie. Yours is the cleanest 100% factual version because your Govt./media said so! Good day Sir!
@Surya: I said Hafiz Saeed lives on Hate Speeches as much as Bal Thakuray. How did you deduce that there is any sort admiration for him? If he is invloved we would be happy to get rid of a terrorist. But all we hear are accusations but no mature movement. Indian foriegn policy is conducted through its over sensatioanlized bollywood inspired media. Why not take the cases to International court of justice like he himself suggested, why not let Un-Observers probe the LOC violation as our Army chief suggested. You know why it doesn't happen, because no party can come out completely clean!
As unfortnate as it was the incident of Sirbhijeet singh but what do you think message comes across to Pakistani people when a man convicted as plotter of bombings and murder was given a hero treatment in India? Yes our govt. might not be as clean but the holier than thou mindest of Indian confuses us.There might be interfernce in your internal matters but do you think there isnt any inteference in Balochistan? 1971 was our internal mattter. How come India interviened? You think Raw and other Spy agencies eat biscuits all day? Yes we admit the mistreatment of minorities in our country and many of us are very vocal about it but you accuse us as if India is paradise for your minorities. Indians should come out of the illusion that India is the perfect angel in face of the demon Pakistan all the time. Every Country has its share of shady politics!!
@Midhat:
It gets diffiuclt to debate with people of holier than thou mindset who fail to acknowledge that there could be another side of the story too.Coming to your points: . No Midhat, it get impossible to debate if person infront of you is in denial and ready to throw in bunch of lies to prove his/her point. - If you are denying hindu bashing on your school text books then you should read your school text books again. - Samjhota express case should be an lesson for Pakistan as per how to treat extremism instead you use that to validate extremism in your country that is pathetic. There are extemism in every country important thing is how the Govt deal with it. - Are you defending Hafiz Sayeed ?? That is sad, really it is. - about kashmir, if you are really serious about UN resolution then shouldn't you vacate POK first ??
I am not writing much coz these things have been discussed in details however, as I said if person infront of you is in denial and ready to throw in lies in a debate it is IMPOSSIBLE to reach to an conclusion.
I was at first under impression that NS is in favour of peace however, looking at his actions I can guarantee that its all a show off. He is nothing but an Army stooge. in 183,343,000 population you have 48,890,007 registered voter out of which 55% turned up in the election so, I don't think any party who is again Army have a chance to win in Pakistan. you do the math.
@Midhat, conspiracy theorists are abundant in the land of the pure. You, are no exception to the norm.
That man you admire has a 20 buck bounty on his head for heaven's sake! Bal Thackeray never had that. By the way OBL was found near a military cantonment. Now that will also be denied by the conspiracy theorists, right?
Anyway, what we do with our minorities is our problem. As a Kashmiri Pandit, I am one in my own country...but as you empathise with Indian minorities of your faith, you would never for me being thrown out my own homeland now, will you.
Bravo, gp65, for a balanced, factual & to-the-point response to this somewhat one-sided article!
@Agnostic: says "There are three MAJOR POTENTIAL AREAS of trouble: agriculture, automobiles and pharmaceuticals. India can advance its case by finding answers" Agriculture: Your are sitting in one of the most fertile places in the world along the Indus and India is no big food surplus country. You should see that as an access to over 1.2 biilion people. Automobiles: Not sure if you have any local manufacturers. Pretty much the whole auto industry is dominated by overseas brands with some local assembly. Are you worried that Tata and Mahindra will come and take the market share away from Japanese. How does it matter anyway? maybe the Tata's and Mahindra probably will be ready to setup Manufacturing instead of just assembly. Pharma:I agree on this one. You have a fairly decent local manufacturer who could be nervous with the advent of Indians. In my opinion lot of those threats in Pharmas you already have faced with China, also with India you have a bigger access to a market that you can very quickly understand. I see many opportunities for JVs in this area.
As i said before the reasons for not giving MFN is purely political, also it is illegal as a signatory to WTO. Benefits far outweigh challenges and Pakistan commits to peace by signing this MFN, else it is signing up to the mindset of Hafiz Sayeed and likes...
A Friday is not a Friday without an article of Shafi sahab! Why is it not there? Or has he already taken the new position as Pakistani High Commissioner in UK and so no more eligible to write a newspaper column? If so, we will miss his columns!
Since Pakistan needs convincing what is good for it, I think India should put all this in deep freeze and focus on the doable in the east with Bangladesh regarding trade; transit; water; land boundary; power exchange; oil and gas; steel; land route and connectivity through Myanmar; using excess capacity in Chittagong port for North East's trade; people to people etc and revisit Indo-Pak relations after another decade. Status quo has not hurt any one so far...why are we so obsessed with Indo-Pak relations when a lot more can be done in the East with both Awami League and BNP? It will be a win-win relationship. Also keep working with Iran, Chabahar and through it Afghanistan and Central Asia. Saudis, Iraqis, Turks, Israelis and Gulf States have no problem with growing trade with India. $2-5 billion with Pakistan which anyway is happening through third countries will not matter (except for some traders in Indian Punjab) when in the next 5 years India's foreign trade is expected to grow from $800 billion to a $1 trillion. Meanwhile talk to Mullah Omar and not just Karzai and deal with LeT, JeM etc as they come. SK Mumbai
@ashar: Hindus,,,Hindus,,,why are you obsessed with Hindus,,,,,grow up,,,,hindus are just a part of India,,,india is much more than Hindus!!!
@sterry, @Agnostic You probably do not realize that MFN is not the same as FTA. Giving MFN to all countries that are members of WTO is a basic criteria for WTO membership. If India chose to, it could have taken you to WTO and complained. If it did that, you would either have o ive MFN to India or risk losing your WTO membership. Instead it offered you something (waiving objections to EU trade concessions specific o Pakistan). You took that and failed to do what you needed. Instead of appreciating India's generosity, you find authors like this trying to milk India even more.
Incidentally, India has mercantile trade of around 800 billion dollars, so the trade with Pakistan is not such a big deal. The reason India pursues this is with the mindset that if the 2 countries are economically connected they would be less likely to go to war.
@Komal S: contd... It so happens that China is so far absent in these three sectors of Pakistani market.
@Gp65: When your opinions are based on the biased version of anti Pakistan blabber and the source is biased and over sensationalized provocative media, It gets diffiuclt to debate with people of holier than thou mindset who fail to acknowledge that there could be another side of the story too.Coming to your points:
How do you know Pakistani text books malign Hindus? Have you read them all? Its true that he religious fundamentals are in contrast to each other but learning Unity of God ( Anti-Shirk concepts) was never meant to malign Hinduism, the same way Singing vande mataram by all in indian school was never meant to malign Muslims. Oppression of Hindus: It might not be the perfect ideal conditions in Pakistan but oppression of minorities is a very sub-continental problem. Gujrat, Asaam Babri Masjid and many occasional riots in India don't paint a very idea picture of secular india as well. While there is no doubts about who the culprits were in Samjhota express bombing since it occured in India, 26/11 still has many qs. marks. Apart formconstant accusations there has not been enough evidence produced by India. Hafiz saeed lives on hate speeches as much as Bal thakurauy and Bajrangdal but that is not enough. If you remember Hafiz Saeed asked the Indian govt. to take the case in International court of Justice- May be your govt. should ..till then they should shut up. Loc violations: Just compare the recent Numbers of killings on both sides. Unfortunately we dont cry as loud but the number of just civilians killed on our side should tell you that Indian army is no angel. If you remember our chief did ask for the un-biased UN observers to probe the matter- to make the facts and accusations clear. Your govt. didnt respond! And please dont say that your LOC firings are to keep the terrorists away. Even Cattle and kids got killed ,.. the cows were no terrorist. Visa Issue: It is still as diffucult to get Indian Visa as a Pakistani One. trust me on that. MFN.. Just when NS proposed bi-lateral peace talks, Your president's remarks in UN against Pakistan were very uncalled for.. but than it is is the election season in India. bashing Pakistan has always been a vote gaining strategy. Kashimir in your minds be your internal matter but untill India fulfills Nehru's promises and UN resolutions to Let Kashimiries decide through a plebiste what they want-it will remain a disputed bone of contention. My Family is Kashmri and we speak for them not as Pakistanies or Indian but as Kashmiries; the rightful owners of their own future.@Komal S: There are three MAJOR POTENTIAL AREAS of trouble: agriculture, automobiles and pharmaceuticals. India can advance its case by finding answers.
Editor is either naive or can't see the elephant in the room. Both Sharif and the military elite kowtow to Saeed and his internationally recognized terrorist organization - right? If so, why should India or anyone else believe their statements promoting peace and fighting terrorism? It's obvious to everyone outside of Pakistan. The rest of the World has grown weary of Pakistan's rhetoric - time to put words into action.
@Agnostic: But, as a signatory to WTO you have no other choice but to give MFN to India. India was just following that in the 90s when it gave MFN to Pakistan. Again what economics do you have to work out specifically for India, you already have given MFN to China. All the challenges to your domestic enterprises are bigger with China than India. In fact all economics data will tell you that both pakistan and India benefits more with opening up. This is not a zero sum game.
@Author India committed the biggest blunder by granting MFN status to Pakistan, as the latter instead of reciprocating the same, started the business of exporting the unwanted commodity ie terrorism to India, which it has continued till date despite India making several requests to stop the same. Do you still feel that India should be doing any business with your country ?
It is interesting to see that commentators of ET are working like companies. Most of them are Indian Hindus while according to the nature of article they comment, they transformed into Pakistani Ahmedi or other minority and in this case all of them are patriotic Indian Mahabharat type Hindus who are trying to advise and censure Pakistan of its Muslim and Pakistani stand. But still it is a keyboard war. Isn't it?.
@Komal S: I want to assure you that the "political" decision has been made but sadly the economics do not work out. @To all Indian commentators: India let go through the EU package not only for the sake of MFN from Pakistan but to take out an unnecessary sticking point in India-EU relations.
The author mentions about Hafiz Saed claims that if transit route were opened, Indian spy's would also enter. Does he realize (Hafeez Saeed) that India has too much of a liberal visa policy and it is impossible to make out good Pakistani Muslim from a bad Pak Muslim. By allowing Pakistanis in large numbers, we have already jeopardized India's security. Pakistanis feel secure inside India because India is secular and India has many Muslims but non-Msulim Indians find it threatening to visit Pakistan. Until Pakistan eliminates all Jihadis, their camps and anti India terror, I think the new Indian Premier must close borders except for very limited numbers and each closely monitored.
@naeem khan Manhattan,Ks: - Pakistan has given MFN status to China and also many more developing countries whose products land in Pakistan comparatively cheaper. If the Pakistani Market remains unaffected by Cheap Chinese products the apprehension of cheaper goods from India shall have no impact. The only impact will be that Pakistani Entrepreneurs/ manufacturers shall be constrained to develop the expertise and manufacturing facilities/ upgrade technology and skill to compete. This has happened in India too. once MFN is granted to India there will be steps and pressure( from Indian business people) to remove many more non tariff barriers too filing which trades can continue one sided. Trade normalization is the trajectory through which peace will come in both countries.
@midhat It looks like finally you are getting it. We are happy at least one pakistani is in touch with reality. Congratulations!
@lol in liverpool: "The way trolls swarm this paper proves that partition was just the right thing for us." I could not agree with you more. This is the best thing that has happened to India,
Sorry I don't buy into your argument at all; Pakistan should focus giving MFN status to its Central Asian neighbours and China if you talk about increased import of knowedge, skilled manpower and resources. What biggles my mind is why you would wish to open borders with a neighbour which is actively causing trouble in Pakistan throught bases in Afghanistan. None other than US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that India uses Afghanistan as a base to destabilize Pakistan. India's history of terrorizing Kashmir, supporting groups involved in terror in Pakistan and similar activities are well documented. How can Pakistan possibly expect to deal with an India with this track record? It seems so many liberals in Pakistan only want to open the gates to let India more actively destabilise Pakistan.
@lol in liverpool:
I agree with you completely but the partition was not complete. Unfortunately many innocent people are stuck on the wrong side of border. Its the duty of both countries to achieve this by doing the transfer of population . IMHO, no one in both territories should have any objection to this humane and holy cause. We owe this to the founding fathers of both nations and people. This will also help the cause of peace we all seek.
@naeem khan Manhattan,Ks:
Doesn't China have MFN status fwith Pakistan. If you think Pakistan has withstood that, you do not have to worry about India. The decision on MFN to India is purely political.
Re teh MFN, only reason, it was not given was because there is no benefit of giving it now. There are eclections in India and there would not have been any positive outcome (even likely increase in trade) from giving the MFN status.
It is a good decision becuase it would have created some unrest at home and no economic bebefit (as the oppositon due to elections would have used any trade increase for its campaign). So we economically, we give it now or after indian elections, there is no difference in my opinion re the economy.
Once MFN is fully implemented, trade between the two countries may be like this discussion. 95% for India and 5% for Pakistan. Hafiz Saeed is not an idiot. He too has access to common knowledge about India's protective industrial/agricultural regimen. If Pakistan grants India MFN, it will have to follow by ant-dumping measures which may damage relations further.
@gp65: All your comments on every Op'ed, blog, or news are becoming very predictable. When will Indians come out of Holier than thou mindset. Pakistanies are always the boold thirsty, hate mongering, war lovers whose soul purpose is to hate Hindus and mess up the right version of Indian history. Its always Pakistani Govt. faults. Always the ISI. We mess up our textbooks and the History. Indian Govt. never ever befools its people. Never cultivates the anti Pakistani rehtoric to gain votes. Always teaches the 100% factual version of Independence History. Bal Thakuray and Bajrandal and all the rightwingers just preach love. 70,000 Indian forces in Kashmir are just there to fight an occasional few hundred cross bordering terrorists and rest of the time play friendly gulli danda matches with Kashmires. Gujrat,Samjhota express, Asaam, Babri Masjid never occured. There is absolute fairy tale love between the indian communities. Oh the Angels!
@bala: Mumbai was a false flag operation. Stop crying over mumbai and ask your govt about their role in it.
Sir I hear you; its a very reasonable article, and I wish somebody was actually thinking of economics in the government. But please remember that Pakistanis and their leaders do not crazy about trivial matters like economy, balance of payments, trade, deficit etc etc; they're only concerned with conspiracy theories, self-pity, ethnic hatred and women's clothing. Sad, but true.
@naeem khan Manhattan,Ks: I think you are exaggerating the importance of India in the EU countries, like they have no interest of their own in Pakistan and will do what ever Indians tell them. Please get off your high horse
Read the below link from ET and tell me what was wrong once again. Search on ET to find articles on India actually providing the waiver. This was linked to MFN back then, but as usual India conceded but Pakistan did not follow through.
EU duty waiver for Pakistan: India likely to lift veto ahead of Fahim’s visit
@naeem khan Manhattan,Ks:( I think you are exaggerating the importance of India in the EU countries, like they have no interest of their own in Pakistan and will do what ever Indians tell them. Please get off your high horse)
There is no question of high horse or low pony. It was a good gesture that's all.Under WTO protocol if EU was levying duties on certain items imported from India it could not grant a duty waiver on same items of imports from Pakistan if India objected.. Due to unprecedented floods in Sindh Pak economy needed all the help it could get & when duty waiver issue came up India gladly withdrew objections on 75 such products or refrained from raising them. At one stroke India was out-priced on these items by Pak in EU. If the duty concessions alone resulted in 80 million Euros less revenue to EU, you can well guess the beating India took.The then head of the European Union delegation to Pakistan, Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark was all praise for India & Hina Rabbani Khar was happy. Look up "India drops objections to EU trade concessions for Pakistan" or archives of September 2011 at ET or "The News" or Dawn.
@naeem khan Manhattan,Ks Ji : You stated Perhaps you are giving more credit to Hafiz ................Pakistan, Pakistan foreign policy must not be hostage to his whims. . Sir Ji, kudos to you - I could not have said it any better. However. on second thought Pakistan granting MFN Status to India will cause SEVERE DAMAGE to Pakistan's Industries. I hope you are aware that over Thirty Pakistani Industries have been "Destroyed and Closed Down" in the wake of Free Trade with China. This is tolerated by the Pakistanis as China is Pakistan's Higher than the Himalayas etc. etc. Friend. In case due to Free Trade with India say even Twenty Pakistani Industries are Closed and Destroyed then there will be the next Pakistan Attack on India leading to an all out War. As such Pakistan has to see that such a situation should not come to pass. . Cheers
Pakistan missed a huge opportunity of increasing trade with India during Dr Manmohan Singh's tenure as PM and the same would have benefitted Pakistan more than India. Incase, Modi lead BJP comes to power next year, it is unlikely that India would do any business with its neighbour except at LoC/IB which need not be elaborated.
You acknowledge that people are playing politics in your country reciprocating (not granting afresh) MFN status accorded by India years back, and accuse India, in the same breath, of playing hard to get. Don't you see the contradiction?
@Reddy: hahaaah!!! Well said. have a nice day.
@moderator: Is there some problem with my comment? why was it not published? "A good piece based on facts. Pakistan is erring in not moving ahead on trade when it is stuck with a floundering economy, energy crisis, BOP crisis, IMF conditions etc. It is acting as if MFN and transit trade are a concession which India is desperate for and is expecting something in return. Preferably Siachen, Sir Creek etc. But as the author correctly points out this is a mistake. India can afford to wait. $2-5 billion in trade with Pakistan is not such a trump card when Indian foreign trade is around $ 800 billion. In any case trade is happening through third parties (Gulf) with higher transaction costs. The power trading arrangement with Bangladesh signed 2-3 years back has yielded results. The High Voltage line is ready and India is ready to send 500 MW. Sharief's first call to Singh after elections was about power crisis. But Pakistan despite its serious crisis is neither moving on power trading nor LNG trading both of which are to Pakistan's advantage, considering its dire energy situation. But most Pak Govt commentary from Dar etc is as if trade is a big concession to India. Very strange ! At this rate NS govt will fast lose its good-will in Pakistan and street protests will start on economic issues..... regds SK Mumbai"
@Reddy: ' tell your singers, actors and actresses to stay put' What this has anything to do with trade or politics?How many of them are there anyway?probably in single digits.
"Also, let us not make the offer of MFN status to India conditional to the start of a composite dialogue or that of transit trade facility conditional to the resolution of the Kashmir issue because then India would be justified in making composite dialogue conditional to bringing the culprits of the Mumbai massacre to book by Pakistan"
So Mr. Ziauddin, you draw a parallel here to granting of MFN status with the demand for closure of terrorism.
Shouldn't you be ending terrorism anyway whether India or anyone asks for it or not? India's demand in this regard is a basic hygiene requirement.
It's like you would not want to sit next to a stinking hobo for a dinner. You would want the person to at least have a bath and not stink while you eat a meal.
Similarly, we want Pakistan to at least stop terrorism, and then we can consider other things.
To be frankly speaking as a foreign policy student......I would like to state a few things and I am a paki canadian........
1.Position of pakistan is too weak at present and all world rants are at their nuclear arsenal which is copied or made in china..Chinese products are cheapest...dont know weather they will burst or not..... 2.India and america thinks civil war will start in pakistan and by 2020 the current pakistan will not be these instead there will be 4-5 countries like yugoslavia and USSR...
ET..these are facts...get them through......
India has the upper hand here in every case. If India rebukes Pakistan, Pakistan will suffer far more than India. Pakistan is now a mess that no country - even Afghanistan - wants to associate itself with. It's about time our PM follows up on his words and cracks down hard on all the non-state actors who are trying to sabotage any kind of prosperity for Pakistan.
Perhaps you are giving more credit to Hafiz Saeed' power to scuttle foreign policy issues with India than he is capable of , there are other complications beside his street power. One would be granting Most Favored Nation ( MFN) status to India will flood Pakistani markets with their inexpensive goods and will hurt the local manufactures which most likely could not compete with Indian counterparts. However granting MFN status will keep Pakistani manufacturers of the same good on their toes and they will have to improve their quality in order to compete, personally I favor that India should be granted MFN status the sooner the better regardless what the likes of Hafiz Saeed say or do. Granting transit facilities will complicate the law and order situation even further for Pakistan, we know for sure that hundreds if not thousands of US containers went missing between Karachi and Afghanistan. Contraband are easily smuggled through land routes like the traffic between Mexico and US has already been proved. Pakistan is not that sophisticated like the US to check by ex-ray machines and thermal equipment at the border to stop the contraband and above all our custom officers are not known for their diligent duties and squeaky clean record. If India is supplying arms and stirring troubles in Baluchistan then it is prudent that transit facilities should not be granted at this stage, may be later on but not now. By the way if Hafiz Saeed is guilty of involvement in the Bombay bombings and killing innocent people there then he should be extradited to India and let him stand trial there, he should not be able to dictate the State of Pakistan, Pakistan foreign policy must not be hostage to his whims.
I think we have to look at the peace talks from a whole different perspective.
In my opinion, behind the curtains, India is asking pakistan to wait for the new government in India.
@South Indian: It seems to me a good comment and make some sense but by saying that," India gave its go-ahead to remove restrictions on Pakistani exports to the EU", I think you are exaggerating the importance of India in the EU countries, like they have no interest of their own in Pakistan and will do what ever Indians tell them. Please get off your high horse, there are reasons why Pakistan is dragging their feet to grant MFN status to India and granting the transit facilities to Central Asia is even more complicated.
@Ziauddin I read all 14 comments and I could not find one comment representing Pakistan POV. I don't write comment on ET any more, just a reminder.
Wow not a single comment by Pakistanis, yet. I can understand, the article doesnt state any conspiracy theory and simply states the fact, there is no spice in it. No doubt pakistanis are avoiding this one.
A good piece based on facts. Pakistan is erring in not moving ahead on trade when it is stuck with floudering economy, energy crisis, BOP crisis, IMF conditions etc. It is acting as if MFN and transit is a concession and is expecting something in return. Preferably Siachen, Sir Creek etc. But as the author correctly points out this is a mistake. India can afford to wait. $2-5 billion in trade with Pakistan is not such a trump card when Indian foreign trade is around $ 800 billion. In any case the trade is happening through third parties (Gulf) with higher transaction costs. The power trading arrangement with Bangladesh 2-3 years is working the High Voltage line is ready and India is ready to send 500 MW. Pakistan despite its serious crisis is neither moving on power trading nor LNG trading both of which are to Pakistan's advantage considering its ire energy situation. But most commentary is treating it like a concession to India. Very strange ! At this rate NS govt will fast lose its good will in Pakistan and street protests will start on economic issues..... regds SK Mumbai
M Ziauddin Esq. : One can write Paragraphs, Verses, Chapters, Books, Volumes, Tomes etc. etc. but just as Pakistan will always be Ruled by the Pakistani Army, ISI So-Called Pakistani "NON-STATE ACTORS" who also control Pakistan's Political Leadership. . One reiterates that for the sake of the Indian and Pakistani People DURABLE AND CONTINUED PEACE is the only way for both Countries' People to attain Economic Progress and Eradicate Poverty. . As such - due to Pakistan being for the foreseeable future being Ruled by the Pakistani Army, ISI So-Called Pakistani "NON-STATE ACTORS" who also control Pakistan's Political Leadership - with a Heavy Heart one has to accept that there will NEVER BE A PEACE BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN, most definitely in the foreseeable future. . Cheers
Author is offering transit route as a carrot to India. The bitter truth is that Pakistan has very poor credibility in this department. NATO pays top dollar for transporting goods from Karachi port to Afghanistan. How many times this transit route has been blocked and how many times containers are looted? This transit route is meaningless as Chabbar port in Iran is connected to Afghanistan via train and highway and available to India. No businessman in his right mind wants to send trucks across the lawless Pakistan? Truck driver will be abused by police, terrorist and politician alike. Thanks but no thanks.
Author missed the opportunity to cite the deal, PM of better half of Pakistan so called, Bangladesh got from India. Pakistan should learn from that deal and try to emulate this framework to get comprehensive deal on water, border, trade, law and order, investment and goodwill. This is PR and Pakistan is not a credible trade partner to India or US or any other countries.
"Finance drives modern civilization. Our best activities have to be financed. I want to see finance develop further to serve human kind. That reflected mistakes and imperfections in our financial system that we are working on correction. It will take decades. We have gone through financial crisis many times in history and have generally learnt from them" Dr Shiller Noble Prize for Economics 2013
On the web page of this pakistani news paper. I believe I am the only one pakistani commenting here. The way trolls swarm this paper proves that partition was just the right thing for us.
Thanks to this internet age common people are very well understood about Pakistan societies disease(religious extreme and hatred towards india systematically from all the institution of Pakistan).here I am very proud I can teach my child about goodwill gesture towards all religion in deep south of my country.(india) .also more awareness is now cultivated through media about real and dangerous Pakistan to the common people of india. our so called secular politician cannot take any unilateral decision any more so its Pakistan people and all its stake holders should hurry up and grab the opportunity otherwise as per former US secretary of state observation that pak will become international migrane and would be disintegrated into pieces.plz publish this. so that people will understand the emergency.
So, once again, the author, like most Pakistanis, expects India to bend backwards even though there are more 'To do' items in Pakistan's list than India's?
Consequently, after many instances of Pakistan not keeping their end of the bargain; the Indians seems less trusting this time - and that stance will only harden as time goes by. And now, Pakistan has run out of all its bargaining chips.
About MFN status to India, Here I am quoting Pakistan Economic Watch chairman, Murtaza Mughal. ' India granted MNF status to Pakistan in 1995 but it proved to be a trick as local exports could not pick up due to the non-tariff barriers that include different clearances, inspections, certifications, specifications, labelling, marking and packaging rules etc. In addition, India has also imposed a number of de facto trade barriers to stop Pakistani exporter from making inroads in its market, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal. That is why India has kept a soft tone in its demand for MFN status by Islamabad as she knows that they never granted real MFN status to Pakistan'. “Political relations between the two countries are unlikely to become stable soon therefore it is not advisable to increase dependence on India,” he said adding that strategic considerations also matter in the overall scenario.
The real issue is what does the word of Nawaz mean? Are we in a position to sign an agreement and see it through? Will Hafiz Saeed and his cohorts accept any agreement? If Hafiz and company have been able to prevent us giving MFN for the last 15 years, what makes you think that they will accept ANY agreement on Kashmir? They dream of flying the black flag on Red Fort in Delhi. What makes you think that they will stop when they are winning? Whether there is an agreement with Nawaz or not is meaningless. India will have to negotiate with TTP, and Hafiz Sahib directly soon enough. Perhaps that agreement will mean something. Simla agreement is a pattern that both Pakistan and India should remember.
If providing support and protection to terrorist groups attacking India is 'friendship" then India demands enimity.
Actions speak louder than words. What actions has Nawaz sharif govt taken that provides an opportunity for India to grab? Has Pak given MFN? No...Has Pak given any trade related go ahead? No ..Has Pak taken any meaning full step to prosecute Terrorists (Mumbai and others)? ..No Has Pak stopped state funding to JuD? No (it is interesting that while Pak did not and does not allow intentional AID agencies to help in Baluchistan or elsewhere ...Pak allows access to JuD to offer aid and thus allows a right-wing group to gain political space).
As of this day, all Nawaz has offered is empty words ...while his actions are more hostile than Zardari. After all Nawaz Party in Punjab is known to be very close to some terrorist groups.
ETBLOGS1987
T Mods- everything is factual and directly related to the OpEd. Pls publish.
" It should accept Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s unconditional offer of friendship".
If the offer is unconditional, then that means Pakistan offers friendship regardless of India's actions. The truth is just the reverse: 1) India gave MFN to Pakistan in 1996. IT later waiver it objections to a special tax breaks for Pakistani goods by EU with Pakistan committing to give India an MFN status. India did its part. Pakistan however failed to homour its commitment.
2) Indian textbooks do not malign Muslims but Pakistani textbooks do malign Hindus
3) Despte obvious oppression of Hindus in Pakistan as evidenced from Pakistani Hindus seeking asylum i India India stays out and does not interfere in Pakistan's internal affairs. Pakistani parliament on the other hand passes a resolution against hanging an Indian terrotist who got due process of law and was convicted for planing the bombing of Indian parliament while in session.
4) Not only is there no attempt to punish planners of 26/11, Punjab government (headed by NS's brother) actually budgets millions for JuD. Even though Samjhauta Express is not comparable since Indians did not cross the border, come to Pakistan and kil Pakistanis - Pakistanis did indeed die in that terror incident and its planners were arrested by Indian govenment and are sitting in jail.
5) The killing of Indian soldiers on LoC and infiltration attempts have greatly increased under the watc of Nawaz Sharif.
6) India liberaised visas for Pakistanis over the age of 65 as agreed between the 2 governments. Pakistan failed to honor its own commitment and reciprocate.
As such Nawaz Sharif's words and actions are the exact opposite. Not surprising for the man who was PM during Kargill. HE is either unable or unwilling to rein in the state and non-state actors in Pakistan who are bent on creating ill will between the 2 countries. More unilateral concessions by India is clearly not a solution.
It looks to me a classic "stale-mate" situation whatever the well-meanings are of the author. This will not be broken until the "Elephant in the room" (as one has commented) or the "Big Fish" (or multiples) like the Hafiz Saeeds, the Hamid Guls, the Sami-ul-Haqs and a few others are dead and buried (literally, I am afraid!) ... and one can only hope that the time that this would take (I would give it 15-20 years or so) there will not be any newer replacements of their ilk that can summon anarchist "street-power" .... the latter will be detrimental to Pakistan internally in the main, forget external India relations (or for that matter with any other country!) ...
I think India should take back the MFN status given to Pakistan. Its effing 17 years and you don't reciprocate? If you don't want our businesses in your country we don't want yours either. Oh and tell your singers, actors and actresses to stay put.
@ author "Hafiz Saeed, the head of the Jamatud Daawa, brings his hordes on the street protesting the move." The above sentence from the author's opinion piece is not only at variance with what could be construed as a search-for-peace spirit but also foils the entire flow of the article in terms of its otherwise healthy body. India has always been called an "elder brother" by many Paki intellectuals, businesspeople and writers, yet how much can an "elder brother" give without getting something tangible in return for the big picture of peace and harmony? India's innocent civilian population has suffered a great deal at the hands of barbaric and savage terrorists from Pakistan who, in the name of religion, have destroyed many innocent lives and their families. Mumbai 2008 was, of course, the pinnacle of barbarity. The only card, if that is indeed the right word, for India is to insist on bringing to justice all the criminals in mullah's clothing to justice. Indians, like the professed peace-loving Pakistanis posting their comments here, would also love to coexist in peace with their Pakistani brethren, but you Pakistanis have to make the choice -- do you want criminals like Hafiz Saeed, who has a bounty on his head and is wanted for heinous crimes against humanity, to continue to hold your country at ransom and destroy it because of his personal hate-filled agenda which many Pakistanis do not even understand? You must ACT FAST because the clock of self-destruction is ticking against you. By the way, what sort of a government have you got in Islamabad if it is unable to control and bring to justice Hafiz Saeed, who "... brings his hordes on the street" protesting the move?
Let both countries take care of their own poors,so called Peace between two nations is not a pre requisite for prosperity. True to its own nature, TheTerror monster born and brought up in Pakistan will eat its own mentors and As long as Indians have the capability to keep the monster locked in Its birthplace Pakistan , they need not bother. If PM Nawaz Sharif cant control the terrorists,he is of no value to any civilized neighborhood,his overtues empty, useless and meaningless.
Wow!
Sir, hats off to you. No painting with wide brush, but just the factual opinion, no holds barred.
It's crude directness and honesty should hit everyone reading it, including public, politicians and military-men on both sides of the border.
I hope you keep writing such articles/opinions and publish those in Urdu as well. //Rgds ..Peace
Today, India has the chance of getting a most favourable settlement of all issues with Pakistan. It should grab the chance with both hands and free the teeming millions of the subcontinent from the perpetual fear of a war-in-the-offing and that, too, a nuclear one.
Err.... To begin with India would like to grab the MFN status that it granted Pakistan way back in 1996 . Or is it still too early for that?
Who stops Pakistan's civilian government to accord MFN status to India. Surely this has to be accomplished by Nawaz Shariff government. Where is the so called unconditional offer of friendship of Nawaz Shariff ? At least Indians are not able to see the same . Please make it visible to India and the globe.
Interesting article. I agree with most of what you wrote.
However one thing you have to note is that the current government in India is a lame-duck and nothing much will happen before the next elections.
MFN, pending for 17 years after India gave it to Pakistan and after India gave its go-ahead to remove restrictions on Pakistani exports to the EU, is a sore thumb and belies the notion that Pakistan is interested in opening trade with India. Just this simple step that can be done unilaterally by Nawaz Sharif would see increased trade between the two nations. However, his administration seems to be using this as a ploy to get some concessions from India as can be seen by the recent statement by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to the Atlantic Council where he clearly said that MFN would be in abeyance until next years elections in India is concluded.
However the elephant in the room is Hafiz Saeed. Unless he is brought to justice, the festering sore of the Mumbai Attacks would remain open.
1) Very rightly put sir. Most of the Indians are for peace with Pakistan.
2) What India is demanding i.e closure of jihadi camps, bringing culprits of Mumbai to books which is not a bad thing for Pakistan to do. If they close down jihadi camps it will do Pakistan world of good.
3) Like you said Pak Govt backed out of giving MFN status to India after Hafiz Saed led protest, then it is a very sorry state.
Dear author, you have written a more reasonable op ed than most of your compatriots. However your op Ed became discordant with the sentence "India should also stop playing so hard to get." And then it goes downhill.
Actions speak louder than words. How come the ball is always in India's court? Why don't you give MFN status and stop India should also stop playing so hard to getcross border terror?
You are saying this is the best time for India to strike a deal. Did you consider the possibility that Indians are thinking even better times are ahead?