Pak turmoil draws a line of control on trade with India
The Indo-Pak initiative to start trading across the line of control faces a setback due to the uncertain political environment in Pakistan.
By Amiti Sen, TNN |
NEW DELHI: The Indo-Pak initiative to start trading across the line of control faces a setback due to the uncertain political environment in Pakistan. Indian officials, who will participate in the Safta meet in Dhaka later this month, will meet their Pakistani counterparts to gauge the situation and prepare a revised plan.
Talking to ET, commerce department sources said ever since political turmoil started rocking Pakistan a couple of months ago, negotiators had not shown much initiative in taking the talks forward. With emergency declared, there was a bigger question mark on the future of talks. “We will have a greater idea of how things stand when we meet Pakistan commerce ministry officials in Dhaka. Based on feelers that we get, we will decide how to progress with talks,” the official said.
Pakistan and India have already exchanged a list of products they want to export across LoC. India had sent a list of 14 items, of which Pakistan rejected five. The rejected items include leather & leather products, juices, jams & honey, ready-made tin packed foods, copper & silver items and fabricated items like gold ornaments.
The items which Pakistan is ready to negotiate include carpet, rugs, handicrafts, furniture & wooden items, silk & silk products, papier mache, Pashmina, Kashmiri fruits, dry fruits, Kashmiri spices, flowers, Kashmiri saffron and Wazwan, aromatic & medicinal plants, fruit-bearing plants and other agri items like dhania, moong, Basmati rice, spices, fresh fruit and black mushroom.
India, on the other hand, has reportedly expressed its willingness to allow six of the 16 items proposed by Pakistan such as precious stones, namdas (a type of mat), furniture, medicinal herbs, embroidered items and Chilgoza. The items which have been rejected by India for trade across the border include spices, apples, walnuts, rice, paper and carpets. The two sides are yet to decide on points from which the LoC trade will take place.
Pakistan allows exports of certain essential commodities such as halal meats and few categories of live animals, garlic, potato, ginger, tomato, onion, buffalo meat, sheep and goats from India to Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah road route since last year.
On October 1, the two sides decided to go a step ahead and allow trucks loaded with the identified commodities 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.
Talking to ET, commerce department sources said ever since political turmoil started rocking Pakistan a couple of months ago, negotiators had not shown much initiative in taking the talks forward. With emergency declared, there was a bigger question mark on the future of talks. “We will have a greater idea of how things stand when we meet Pakistan commerce ministry officials in Dhaka. Based on feelers that we get, we will decide how to progress with talks,” the official said.
Pakistan and India have already exchanged a list of products they want to export across LoC. India had sent a list of 14 items, of which Pakistan rejected five. The rejected items include leather & leather products, juices, jams & honey, ready-made tin packed foods, copper & silver items and fabricated items like gold ornaments.
The items which Pakistan is ready to negotiate include carpet, rugs, handicrafts, furniture & wooden items, silk & silk products, papier mache, Pashmina, Kashmiri fruits, dry fruits, Kashmiri spices, flowers, Kashmiri saffron and Wazwan, aromatic & medicinal plants, fruit-bearing plants and other agri items like dhania, moong, Basmati rice, spices, fresh fruit and black mushroom.
India, on the other hand, has reportedly expressed its willingness to allow six of the 16 items proposed by Pakistan such as precious stones, namdas (a type of mat), furniture, medicinal herbs, embroidered items and Chilgoza. The items which have been rejected by India for trade across the border include spices, apples, walnuts, rice, paper and carpets. The two sides are yet to decide on points from which the LoC trade will take place.
Pakistan allows exports of certain essential commodities such as halal meats and few categories of live animals, garlic, potato, ginger, tomato, onion, buffalo meat, sheep and goats from India to Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah road route since last year.
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On October 1, the two sides decided to go a step ahead and allow trucks loaded with the identified commodities 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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