NEW DELHI: Trade talks between India and Pakistan have hit the doldrums and, according to Pakistan's Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan, the blame lies with the foreign ministries that don't seem to be able to work with each other, The Hindu said on Friday.
“Trade can't happen in a vacuum when the foreign ministries of the two countries don't work along,” it quoted Mr Khan as saying in an interview to the paper in Pakistan.
Mr Khan said the talks had “hit a snag as the composite dialogue between the two neighbours remains suspended.”
Pakistan has decided to not talk about trade now but go for a larger-than-trade vision, Mr Khan told The Hindu on being asked why Pakistan had failed to deliver on the commitment he had given in New Delhi last month to his Indian counterpart.
During his visit to New Delhi, Mr Khan had assured Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma about operationalising the bilateral trade pact that would automatically lead to Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) for India.
Mr Sharma was to inaugurate the India Show in Lahore on Friday, but had to cancel his visit due to Pakistan's failure to deliver on the bilateral trade pact. “Trade can't happen in a vacuum when the foreign ministries of the two countries don't work along,” Mr Khan said when asked why Pakistan had failed to create an atmosphere conducive to a visit by Mr Sharma. “Trade talks will move when the larger dialogue proceeds,” Mr Khan said. He, however, added that Pakistan was not making this a pre-condition.
The proposals that were agreed between the two sides in Delhi in January are: 24/7-trade of all goods through Wagah-Attari border by mid-February, dismantling of the negative list of 1,209 items and bringing down the sensitive list of items to 100 under the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (Safta) over a period of five years; both to be done by Pakistan. India has already reduced its sensitive list of items to 614 and had agreed at the bilateral talks last month to further cut it to 100 in one year's time.
At present, The Hindu said, only 137 items could be traded through Attari- Wagah land border. If Pakistan eliminates the negative list, it would automatically lead to Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) for India. This is in lieu of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status, a term Pakistan has said it is not in a position to use with regard to India.
