Pak rejects 5 of 14 items on India LoC trade list
Pakistan has rejected five items out of the 14 proposed by India for consideration for trade across the Line of Control (LoC).
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: Pakistan has rejected five items out of the 14 proposed by India for consideration for trade across the Line of Control (LoC). While the country has agreed to consider the nine other items for negotiations, it has not yet responded to India’s request for a date to start the discussions.
The items which have been rejected by Pakistan for LoC trade are leather & leather products, juice, jam & honey, readymade tin packed foods, copper & silver items and fabricated items like ornaments of gold.
The products that would be considered for exports across LoC from India are carpet rugs, handicrafts, furniture & wooden items, silk & silk products, paper machie, shawls including Pashmina, Kashmir fruits, dry fruits, Kashmir spices, flowers, Kashmiri saffron and Wazwan, aromatic plants & medicinal plants, fruit-bearing plants and other agricultural items like dhania, moongi, Basmati rice, spices, fresh fruit and black mushroom.
Speaking to the media, minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh said although India has written to Pakistan asking for a date to start the negotiations on trade across LoC, the Pakistan government has not yet responded. “The Pakistan government seems to be busy with its internal politics. We have not received any response yet to our letter,” he said.
Mr Ramesh added that the points from which the LoC trade will take place has not yet been decided. “Such issues can be decided only when the negotiations start,” he said.
Pakistan has been allowing imports of certain essential commodities like halal meat and few categories of live animals, garlic, potato, ginger, tomato, onion, buffalo meat, sheep and goat from India through the Attari-Wagah road route since last year. On October 1, 2007, the two sides decided to go a step further and allow trucks loaded with the identified commodities to go into each other’s territories. Earlier, the trucks were made to unload at the border from where coolies ferried the goods into India and Pakistan.
According to Mr Ramesh, although the identified items for LoC trade were just nine in number, they accounted for 85% of products that the J&K government wanted to export to Pakistan. “We have to start somewhere. The best option should not be the enemy of the good option,” he said.
The items which have been rejected by Pakistan for LoC trade are leather & leather products, juice, jam & honey, readymade tin packed foods, copper & silver items and fabricated items like ornaments of gold.
The products that would be considered for exports across LoC from India are carpet rugs, handicrafts, furniture & wooden items, silk & silk products, paper machie, shawls including Pashmina, Kashmir fruits, dry fruits, Kashmir spices, flowers, Kashmiri saffron and Wazwan, aromatic plants & medicinal plants, fruit-bearing plants and other agricultural items like dhania, moongi, Basmati rice, spices, fresh fruit and black mushroom.
Speaking to the media, minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh said although India has written to Pakistan asking for a date to start the negotiations on trade across LoC, the Pakistan government has not yet responded. “The Pakistan government seems to be busy with its internal politics. We have not received any response yet to our letter,” he said.
Mr Ramesh added that the points from which the LoC trade will take place has not yet been decided. “Such issues can be decided only when the negotiations start,” he said.
Pakistan has been allowing imports of certain essential commodities like halal meat and few categories of live animals, garlic, potato, ginger, tomato, onion, buffalo meat, sheep and goat from India through the Attari-Wagah road route since last year. On October 1, 2007, the two sides decided to go a step further and allow trucks loaded with the identified commodities to go into each other’s territories. Earlier, the trucks were made to unload at the border from where coolies ferried the goods into India and Pakistan.
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According to Mr Ramesh, although the identified items for LoC trade were just nine in number, they accounted for 85% of products that the J&K government wanted to export to Pakistan. “We have to start somewhere. The best option should not be the enemy of the good option,” he said.
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