29 January 2004	Thursday	06 Zilhaj 1424

KARACHI, Jan 28: India is opening a camp visa office in Karachi very soon, the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Mr Shiveshankar Menon, told a meeting of businessmen of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry here on Wednesday.

But businessmen were certainly not amused by hearing from the Indian envoy that maximum time for issuing visas from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to bona fide businessmen would be three weeks.

As the question-answer session began after Mr Menon finished his speech, businessman stood up one after the other to demand prompt issue of visas, multiple visas and an exemption from police reporting.

The high commissioner announced that a separate window was being opened in the High Commission in Islamabad to deal with visa applications of businessmen. He gave an assurance to the businessmen that visas would be issued to them in three weeks.

"I am leading a big delegation of 150 to 200 businessmen to India from March 3 next," announced Mr Riaz Ahmad Tata, President of the FPCCI, in his welcome address.

Mr Tata spoke of the ruins of Moenjodaro and Harappa in Pakistan and Taj Mahal in India the proud heritage of the people of the Sub-continent and blamed 250 years' colonial rule in India for creating a division between the people.

He called upon the leadership of India and Pakistan to realise the abject poverty of more than one billion people of their countries and instead of spending money on "war infrastructure" shift their priority towards improving the lot of the masses.

Mr Tata offered the premises of the Federation House to India for opening a visa office in Karachi. "It will not be fair," the Indian High Commission replied and held out an assurance that "when our staffing levels permit, we shall be running visa camps in Karachi as well."

Reading from a prepared text, Mr Menon estimated that the volume of bilateral trade between Pakistan and India was expected to touch six billion dollars on a Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status basis within a year. "The simplest and most direct way would be for Pakistan to reciprocate the MFN treatment that now India extends to Pakistan and move to a negative list system," he pleaded.

Mr Menon's other plea to Pakistani businessmen was to stop using arguments like "asymmetry or different sizes or levels of development prevent open trading arrangements between us." He reminded his audience "India and Pakistan's major trading partners are economies that differ vastly in size, structure and levels of development from us."

India's size, he asserted, was an asset that could be a leverage for the benefit of all economies in South Asia. He told Pakistan businessmen that India Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Nepal and Sri Lanka had resulted in narrowing a trade gap of these countries with his country.

In 2002 alone, Sri Lanka's exports grew by around 137 per cent and, encouraged by this expansion, India and Sri Lanka were now considering expanding the scope to cover services and investment as well.

He also dispelled the impression of imbalance for Pakistan in trade with India. "Pakistan does not have much to worry about on this score. While Pakistan could see a rapid surge in exports to India by supplying bulk commodities and energy that Indian economy needs, Indian exports would be mainly in sectors like consumer goods and light engineering goods where the competition from other international suppliers was fierce," he said.

Mr Menon said that Saarc also offered a mechanism for expanding trade relations. Through the reciprocal exchange of tariff preferences under Sapta in the last few months, over 760 tariff lines had been opened by Pakistan for trade with other South Asian countries.

The framework agreement on Safta would represent a qualitative shift to a short negative list between the two countries. The Safta, he said, would come into force by January 2006.

He said the signing of Safta in the Saarc summit in Islamabad early this month had opened the way to pursue ideals leading to a South Asia Economic Union such as South Asia Energy Grid, a common currency, a South Asia Poverty Alleviation Fund and a South Asia Development Bank.

The Indian envoy said that his country was the fourth biggest economy of the world on the basis of purchasing parity and sixth in foreign exchange reserves of over 100 billion dollars and foreign trade was growing in double digits. "India is poised to register seven per cent growth in its economy this financial year.

"India and Pakistan today enjoy a moment of hope that should be a moment of transition to a better future for our peoples," he pointed out. He reminded the businessmen that at the Islamabad Saarc summit, "our two countries and other states demonstrated their will and determination to move our economies forwards to higher growth and greater cooperation among ourselves."

VISITS NINE ZERO: Later, Mr Menon visited the Nine Zero, the head office of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, and met the Muttahida leaders. Talking to the Muttahida leaders, he said the Indian camp office would be opened in a hotel on an ad hoc basis, pending decisions on the opening of fully-fledged consulates in Karachi and Mumbai.

On question about the opening of the Khokhrapar-Monabao route, Mr Menon said talks would be held by the end of this month while the issue of starting the Karachi-Mumbai ferry service would be taken up later. MQM leaders Dr Farooq Sattar, Nasreen Jalil, Salahuddin Haider and Faisal Malik briefed the Indian diplomat about party's objectives and philosophy.