LAHORE, July 26: Political instability in Pakistan has given an advantage to India as far as trade with Germany is concerned.

This was stated by German Ambassador Dr Christoph Brummer on Saturday. He was talking to journalists at the Annemarie-Schimmel-Haus here.

He admitted that trade between India and Germany was incomparable to what it had been with Pakistan.

“Even before 9/11, there were just a handful of German companies willing to invest in Pakistan. They are wary of the political situation here, besides Pakistan’s impression as a country supporting cross-border infiltration into Kashmir.”

However, he assured Pakistan of unrestricted German help in the social sector development. “That can only be achieved in a politically secure atmosphere with a strong commitment to democracy,” he said. The German envoy gave a broad outline of President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s recent visit to his country.

Dr Brummer, who was present at all the talks held in Berlin, identified areas of mutual interest discussed by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Gen Musharraf.

Terming Gen Musharraf’s visit to the his country a success, Ambassador Brummer enlisted the subjects which were given top priority by his government. “Our main concerns in Pakistan are education, health and renewable energy. These are the areas we would like to focus on,” Dr Christoph Brummer said.

Despite appreciating Gen Musharraf’s ability to communicate forthrightly with Chancellor Schroeder, the envoy regretted the lack of the German media’s enthusiasm in the visit.

“I would put it down firstly to Pakistan’s image as a country where fundamentalists have a lot of power and secondly to our own absorption in German affairs since the reunification.