The Hindu : Visit of Pak. business delegation cleared

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 10, 2003

Business

Business

Visit of Pak. business delegation cleared

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI June 9. The Government has accorded its approval for a visit by a delegation of Pakistani businessmen invited by the FICCI to revive commercial ties and launch second track diplomacy with Pakistan once again.

While approving the visit, the FICCI has been assured by the Ministry of External Affairs that it would grant visas to all Pakistani businessmen willing to join this delegation.

A 40-member strong delegation comprising prominent industry leaders from Pakistan is being jointly led by Senator, Ilyas Ahmed Billour, president of the India-Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IPCCI), and Riaz Ahmed Tata, president, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI).

The delegation will take part in the third meeting of the India-Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry slated to be held in New Delhi on June 28 and 29. The IPCCI was formed jointly by FICCI and FPCCI in April 1999 after the maiden bus trip by the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, to Lahore.

Indications are that the issues to be discussed during the meeting range from trade policy issues such as according MFN status to India by Pakistan, infrastrucutural bottlenecks, informal trade, movement of goods, capital and people between the two countries and low volume of bilateral trade.

Bilateral trade between India and Pakistan is very low at less than one per cent of their global trade.

It has been fluctuating all along. Before and immediately after Partition, India was Pakistan's trading partner.

In 1995-96, India in principle granted MFN status to Pakistan and has no list of permitted or forbidden products whereas Pakistan has not extended normal WTO rights or the MFN principle to India but maintains a " permissible list'' of 600 items that may be legally imported from India.

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