Process to grant NDMA to India after bilateral talks begin: Pakistan

NEW DELHI: Pakistan today said the process of granting non-discriminatory market access (NDMA) to India will be carried forward once bilateral engagement with the country resumes.

"Let the bilateral engagement resume. Our two Prime Ministers have met and all the issues were discussed and we hope that that things will be carried forward when the time comes," High Commissioner of Pakistan in India Abdul Basit told reporters here.

He was replying to a question on granting of MFN or NDMA status to India.

Basit said that people of both the countries have given huge mandate to their respective leaders to create a better understanding between the two countries.

"I have no reason to doubt for a moment that acche din aa rahe hain (good days are ahead)," he said.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was here last month to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders had discussions on various issues.

Pakistan has decided to postpone the grant of NDMA status to India due to lack of consensus at home.

Bilateral trade talks have been suspended since last year following escalation in violence at the LoC. In 2012, Pakistan had committed itself to giving the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India but missed its own deadline of December 31, owing to domestic opposition.

Pakistan has to abolish the negative list of 1,209 tradeable items. Abolishing the list of items that cannot be imported from India means the grant of NDMA status to the country.