Geo Business

Non-trade barriers not Pak specific: Indian HC

Non-trade barriers not Pak specific: Indian HC KARACHI: Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Sharat Sabharwal said Saturday that India's non-trade barriers are uniform for all the countries and not `Pakistan specific.' "We have a uniform policy which relates to quality of goods, their packaging etc," he said addressing the members of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) here. The envoy said negotiations were still underway between the two countries at various levels and India wants to boost trade with all the countries, particularly its neighbours. "Your Commerce Minister visited our country and I believe it was a successful visit of the Pakistani delegation," he remarked. Sharat Sabharwal stated the commerce secretaries will be meeting again in mid-November to sort out the trade barriers and other issues. He welcomed the Federal Cabinet's decision for granting the MFN (Most Favoured Nation) status to India. Several of the issues have been sorted out and it has also been agreed to liberalize the two-way trade by raising the volume of trade from present 2.5 billion dollars to at least 6 billion dollars per annum, he maintained. Sabharwal said that talks were also underway between the ministries of interior of both the countries to facilitate the issuance of business visas, as at present the private sector was facing problem in getting visas. "There is interest on both sides of border to boost the trade ties as its true potential has not yet been realised," the Indian High Commissioner said. Responding to queries of the businessmen, he said proposals were also under consideration to provide land route access to Pakistan for movement of cargo across Wagah and Khokrapar-Monabao borders. Earlier, in his address, the KCCI president Abrar Ahmed said it was a misconception that opening up trade with India will bring net loss to Pakistan. "The win-win situation needs to be created to explore untapped potential, which is enormous and could be increased to 10 billion dollars. Constraints on economic integration including high tariff and non-tariff barriers, inadequate infrastructure, bureaucratic hurdles held back trade between the two countries," he said. The KCCI chief said that the issue of granting MFN status to India needs to be realized as economic obligation instead of political framework and India should come forward with open mind to promote bilateral trade and investment to further deepen the economic relations. He pointed out that India should oblige the commitment to support Pakistan in the World Trade Organization (WTO) for accomplishing Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) Plus in European Union, while Pakistan offers MFN to India. He said Karachi and Mumbai are sister port cities, natural partners and developed as two regional commercial hubs and there was need for cooperation agreement to form Karachi-Mumbai joint chamber that will prove a milestone for regional trade and development. Abrar Ahmed said an Indian business delegation led by the President of Mumbai Chamber of Commerce and Industry was also expected next month. "We have also planned to organize an Indian Pavilion in the KCCI's 9th My-Karachi, Oasis of Harmony Exhibition scheduled to be organized in July 2012," he added. He urged the governments of Pakistan and India to provide maximum facilitation. "It is the need of the hour that both governments, besides opening new land routes, should positively consider to connect Mumbai with Karachi through air and sea links." (APP)

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