NEW DELHI, March 3: India opened on Wednesday its first-ever trade fair of Pakistani goods amid thawing relations between the longtime foes but traders at the carnival spoke of backup plans if ties soured again.
The nine-day fair showcases Pakistani handicrafts, fashion, onyx products, glassware, consumer goods, hi-tech electronics and glitzy motorbikes. The fair followed a decision last month by India and Pakistan to draw up a peace roadmap.
Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro, India's third-largest software services company by sales, told the fair the governments of the two countries needed to realize bilateral business was the "grease" that bettered ties.
"Official bilateral trade is merely $250 million, another $1 billion takes place through third countries and there's potential to enhance it to $4 to $6 billion in the short-term," the billionaire said.
The fair coincided with the start of a relaxed visa system for Indian sports fans seeking to attend this month the first Indian cricket series to be held on Pakistani soil in 15 years.
"Hence we have Plan A, B and C in case things go wrong again," said Riyaz Mukadam, one of the 385 exhibitors visiting India to take advantage of new climate of relaxed tensions many hope will replace five decades of hostility.
India's Privatization Minister Arun Shourie said official-level business would end clandestine trading valued at almost $2 billion annually. "Many of the (tax) barriers are meaningless as contraband trading is 10 times the size of our formal trade, which is damaging and encourages the wrong types of enterprise and people," he said.
India and Pakistan endorsed South Asian Free Trade Agreement (Safta) among the seven South Asian nations. But while India has granted Pakistan most favoured nation trading status, Islamabad has yet to reciprocate.
"Safta is a great landmark because the great benefit of trade is competition," Mr Shourie said. "If ties improve, we can go beyond trading and set up dealerships and then in another phase have manufacturing units in India," Mr Mukadam said.
However, another exhibitor, Asif Aftab, said Pakistan's business community was braced for another reversal of relations. "We won't be surprised if that happens and businesses suffer," Mr Aftab said.
Another trader said businesses were taking a "wait-and-watch policy." Still, if the two neighbours take the road to peace, another exhibitor, Haroon Mahmood, said Pakistani goods would be strongly competitive in India.
"Our batteries are of international standards and priced almost 40 per cent cheaper than what is available in India," Mr Mahmood, chief executive officer of CEO of Pakistan's privately-run Osaka Batteries, told AFP. "We would give Indians a run for their money."
Top Pakistani cosmetics maker Shehla Rashid, who sells her goods worldwide said: "First and foremost is love and mutual trust and then it's business. If I can sell in India, then Indians can sell freely in Pakistan," said Ms Rashid, who operates her cosmetics company, Hashmi Kohl, from Karachi. -AFP
