LAHORE, June 18: The leader of the Indian parliamentarians peace delegation, Kuldip Nayar, has emphasized the need for developing trade relations between Pakistan and India.

He was speaking at a reception given by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Aiwan-i-Tijarat auditorium on Wednesday.

“Can’t we separate politics from trade and commerce?” Mr Nayar asked and suggested that the two countries could form a common market which could be extended to include other South Asian countries.

Trade and commercial relations between the two countries should not be politicized, rather should be used to resolve difficult political problems, Mr Nayar said. The two could start joint industrial ventures, and even individuals could buy shares in companies through stock exchanges on the same pattern as they purchased and sold shares of foreign companies.

Mr. Nayar, who is a member of India’s Rajya Sabha, said India was on the road to progress with its higher growth rate and foreign reserves at $82 billion. “We want to share the progress with Pakistan because what is important for India is also important for Pakistan.”

Another member of the delegation, Lakshman Seth, discussed the existing bilateral trade relations between the two countries and said that there was a great scope for expansion if normal trade relations were restored.

Former LCCI president Mian Tajummal Hussain said businessmen in Pakistan also wanted to have trade and commercial relations with India, but politicians sitting in parliaments wanted to settle political issues first. He said times had changed as “we are living in a changing world”.

LCCI’s WTO committee chairman Akbar Shaikh said international trade relations were governed by political considerations between the trading countries. The phenomenon was not new as trade relations had been affected by political relations in many other countries even though they had no enmity. Political will was necessary for the success of any project. He asked if India was willing to treat Pakistan as an equal in trade.

Pakistan-India Forum president Dr Mubashir Hassan said the people of Pakistan and India wanted to settle their differences through negotiations and it was also the desire of the business communities of the two countries. Both were worried about their security and wanted to have peace in the subcontinent.

In his welcome address, LCCI acting president Pervaiz Anwar Shaikh said that Pakistani businessmen wanted lasting economic ties with their neighbour as they believed that the people could not afford to remain isolated for long. He said there was need to reactivate the Saarc forum to be followed by sustainable conflict resolution.