PESHAWAR, July 18: Senator Ilyas Ahmed Bilour, the president of the India-Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, has said that member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (Saarc) should form trade bloc to bolster trade and business activities in the South Asian region.
“The time has come when Pakistan and India should resolve their all issues and pave the way for forming a trade bloc at the Saarc level to prepare for post-2004 challenges when the WTO agreement becomes effective,” said Mr Bilour, who has recently returned from India where he led an over 100-member trade delegation from Pakistan.
Speaking at the “Guest Hour Programme” of the Peshawar Press Club here on Friday, Mr Bilour, who was elected president of the India-Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry on July 7, last, said that if member countries of the European Union could form a trade bloc why not the Saarc countries.
Saarc, he added, was required to be reactivated in the mutual benefit of its member countries and it should strive to form a trade bloc to forge unity in its ranks to counter the challenges posed at the hands of various trade blocs formed at the international level including Asean, European Union, GATT and WTO.
He briefed the newsmen about the Pakistani trade delegation’s recent visit to India and meetings with the Indian business community, politicians, commerce and foreign affairs ministers.
Seven members of the Pakistani trade delegation also called on the Indian Prime Minister Attal Behari Vajpayee.
“The success of our delegation’s visit to India could be gauged from the fact that our meeting with the Indian prime minister was scheduled to last for 20 minutes whereas in actual it continued for 50 minutes,” said Mr Bilour.
He said that the trade delegation received very positive response from the Indian prime minister, ministers, members of the trade and business community and the general public, particularly, Muslims.
He urged the need for better trade and economic ties between the two countries.
