July 24, 2002	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 13,1423

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ISLAMABAD, July 23: Pakistan on Tuesday dismissed the possibility of signing a free trade agreement (FTA) or holding talks for trade through land route with India until prevailing tense atmosphere continued.

“India is not included in the list of those countries with which Pakistan is signing the FTA or initiating negotiations,” said commerce minister Abdul Razak Dawood at a Press conference explaining salient features of the trade policy.

When asked whether the two countries intended to resume trade through land route, the minister said: “When two armies (of Pakistan and India) look each other eye-ball to eye-ball how can trade be resumed?”

He said Pakistan was in negotiations with Bangladesh, Kenya and Morocco to sign the FTA while a technical team of Sri Lanka had arrived in Islamabad for talks on the FTA.

The Sri Lankan trade minister would arrive here on Wednesday for a final round of talks.

“I am expecting reasonable understanding but I could give you the final outcome after meeting the trade minister of Sri Lanka,” the minister said.