India seeks most favoured nation status from Pakistan

Proposal will increase bilateral trade by five times to $10 billion.

NEW DEHLI: India on Wednesday urged Pakistan to give Delhi the most favoured nation (MFN) status and achieve a five-fold increase in bilateral trade between the two countries from $2 billion to $10 billion.

Indian External Affairs Ministry Secretary Nirupama Rao, while speaking at the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) conference on ‘India-Pakistan Economic Relations - Prospects and Challenges’, said: “South Asian Free Trade Agreement (Safta) does not provide for a positive list approach, but Pakistan continues to maintain a positive list of 1,934 items for imports from India.

“India has maintained a ‘sensitive list’ of around 850 tariff lines for all non-LDCs (non-least developed countries) of Safta, including Pakistan,” she added. “Trade under these items is allowed under MFN basis. Over the years, our tariff rates have come down to levels prevailing globally.”

Rao said that in order to improve infrastructure and streamline and harmonise customs procedures at land borders, the Indian government is setting up a modern integrated check-post at the  India-Pakistan border at Attari for trade facilitation. It is expected to be completed by April 2011.

“As things stand, Pakistan allows import of only 110 items from India through land route and allows export of only one item, cement, to India,” she informed. Pakistan should allow all permissible items for trade via Attari-Wagha route, she said.

The potential areas of cooperation for the two countries are agriculture, food processing, energy, small and medium enterprises, information technology and social and economic infrastructure.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25^th, 2010.