MFN status to India under study: Pakistan

By Amit Baruah

ISLAMABAD, JUNE 29. Pakistan has ``no objections'' to trading with India, the Commerce Minister, Mr. Razak Dawood, announced today after allowing imports of rice parboiling plants and leather garments and products from the country in the new trade policy.

The Minister told a press conference that Pakistan was giving ``active consideration'' to grant the most-favoured nation status to India. It is for the first time a Minister of the military Government has made such a statement since the October 1999 coup.

Mr. Dawood's clear-cut statement that Pakistan has no problems trading with India came in response to a question whether Islamabad's trade policy conflicted with its foreign policy on Kashmir.

Maintaining that the current trade level with India was a paltry $25 million, an official accompanying Mr. Dawood said Pakistan was open to the idea of considering sugar imports. However, sugar was not one of the 592 items which could now be imported from India.

(India imported huge amounts of sugar from Pakistan last year, with the purchase taking place even during the initial part of the Kargil conflict. This year Pakistan itself is facing a serious shortage).

The Minister also referred to cancellation of orders by Indian buyers of raw cotton in December 1999. Pakistan, however, had no objection to trading with India, he said.

In reply to another question, Mr. Dawood said no negotiations were now going on with India on trade matters. His Ministry was doing its homework for possible negotiations in the future.

The Minister stated an export target of $10 billion had been set for the financial year 2000-2001 as against exports worth $8.6 billion the previous year.

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Section  : International
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