KARACHI: The Federa­tion of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Thursday said it would consider suspending trade with India if the situation did not improve soon.

FPCCI president Abdul Rauf Alam said that Pakistan had no compulsions of any sort to continue business and trade relations with India under the current hostile conditions. The entire Pakistani business community, he said, was united to take any decision and given the tense situation in the region, it was not possible to continue trade relations with India.

He pointed out the role of the Saarc Chamber of Com­m­erce and Industry and said that it left them with no choice but to promote trade relations with ECO and D-8 countries.

Read: ‘Trade with India not to affect Pakistan economy’

The Kalabagh dam and the China-Pakistan Econo­mic Corridor (CPEC) were also facing controversies and losing such opportunities could be damaging for the country, said Mr Alam, adding that the CPEC was a game-changer, but there was little awareness among the business community about the project. He advised the community to work in unison and avoid politics of accusations in order to improve the image of the apex body of trade and industry (FPCCI).

Mr Alam was of the opinion that without making payments of outstanding sales tax refunds to exporters, the country would not progress and falling exports would also not improve.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2016