Liberalisation: India blames Pakistan for delaying trade deal
India’s top envoy to Pakistan accuses Islamabad of dragging feet on trade liberalisation deal
ISLAMABAD:
Amid fresh hiccups in efforts to normalise ties between the arch-rivals, India’s top envoy to Pakistan, T C Raghavan, accused Islamabad of dragging feet on trade liberalisation deal despite agreeing to the broader contours.
Raghavan said that after the Indian initiative the ball was pending in Pakistan’s court. He said the letter carrying the details of incentives had been written after an understanding on numbers and nature of concessions reached during the visit of Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir to India. He said if Pakistan honours its commitments given in September 2012 agreement and January 2014 agreement, the objectives of bilateral trade normalisation can be easily achieved.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 26th, 2014.
Amid fresh hiccups in efforts to normalise ties between the arch-rivals, India’s top envoy to Pakistan, T C Raghavan, accused Islamabad of dragging feet on trade liberalisation deal despite agreeing to the broader contours.
In January this year, the Indian government had formally written a letter to Pakistan offering a comprehensive trade deal but the Pakistani government has not yet given a formal response to the offer, said Raghavan, the Indian High Commissioner to Islamabad on Thursday.
Raghavan said that after the Indian initiative the ball was pending in Pakistan’s court. He said the letter carrying the details of incentives had been written after an understanding on numbers and nature of concessions reached during the visit of Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir to India. He said if Pakistan honours its commitments given in September 2012 agreement and January 2014 agreement, the objectives of bilateral trade normalisation can be easily achieved.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 26th, 2014.