PM may step in if Pak plays hardball on Safta
The ministry of external affairs (MEA) will seek the guidance of prime minister Manmohan Singh to resolve the conflict between India and Pakistan over tariff concessions under Safta if the Saarc ministerial council is unable to reach a decision on...
By Subhash Narayan and Amiti Sen, TNN |
NEW DELHI: The ministry of external affairs (MEA) will seek the guidance of prime minister Manmohan Singh to resolve the conflict between India and Pakistan over tariff concessions under Safta if the Saarc ministerial council is unable to reach a decision on the issue.
Pakistan has refused to offer tariff concessions to India under the Safta agreement beyond the 773 products on the bilateral positive list. This is unacceptable to India as Pakistan has offered concessions to other Safta members on more than 4,000 tariff lines.
The issue has been referred to the Saarc ministerial council meeting scheduled next month. Speaking to ET, commerce ministry officials said India would think about taking retaliatory action only if the Saarc ministerial council is unable to take a decision on the issue.
India had protested against Pakistan’s decision to continue to trade with India under Safta on the basis of the bilateral positive list at the Saarc council of ministers’ meeting in Dhaka on August 2. India had complained that it was a negation of Safta and violated Article 23 of the agreement besides jeopardising its implementation.
Pakistan criticised India for calling for an emergency meeting of the Safta ministerial council and said the issue should be referred to the dispute settlement mechanism under Safta. It was then agreed that the next regular meeting of the Safta ministerial council (which is scheduled to take place in October ’06) would have to resolve the issue.
The MEA had earlier proposed to the prime minister’s Trade and Economic Relations Committee (TERC) that India should suspend all trade concessions under Safta till the issue was resolved. It could withhold the next phase of concessions under the trade liberalisation programme due in December ’06. The other option was to keep in abeyance the concessions given to Pakistan under Safta.
Pakistan has refused to offer tariff concessions to India under the Safta agreement beyond the 773 products on the bilateral positive list. This is unacceptable to India as Pakistan has offered concessions to other Safta members on more than 4,000 tariff lines.
The issue has been referred to the Saarc ministerial council meeting scheduled next month. Speaking to ET, commerce ministry officials said India would think about taking retaliatory action only if the Saarc ministerial council is unable to take a decision on the issue.
India had protested against Pakistan’s decision to continue to trade with India under Safta on the basis of the bilateral positive list at the Saarc council of ministers’ meeting in Dhaka on August 2. India had complained that it was a negation of Safta and violated Article 23 of the agreement besides jeopardising its implementation.
Pakistan criticised India for calling for an emergency meeting of the Safta ministerial council and said the issue should be referred to the dispute settlement mechanism under Safta. It was then agreed that the next regular meeting of the Safta ministerial council (which is scheduled to take place in October ’06) would have to resolve the issue.
The MEA had earlier proposed to the prime minister’s Trade and Economic Relations Committee (TERC) that India should suspend all trade concessions under Safta till the issue was resolved. It could withhold the next phase of concessions under the trade liberalisation programme due in December ’06. The other option was to keep in abeyance the concessions given to Pakistan under Safta.
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