LAHORE, Feb 24: Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Mian Anjum Nisar will lead Pakistan's business delegation to India on a 10-day tour beginning from Wednesday.

Briefing newsmen about the tour here on Tuesday, Mian Anjum Nisar said that the delegation, comprising six chamber executive committee members, would cross into India from the Wagha Border and would return on March 5 after visiting four cities- Amritsar, Delhi, Agra and Ajmer Sharif.

He said the delegation was visiting India on the invitation of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Delhi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He said the delegation would reactivate the memorandum of understanding signed with the Confederation of Indian Industries as proposed by its Deputy Director Ajay Khanna during his visit to the LCCI a few days back.

The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry would organize an exhibition of Pakistani products at Delhi on March 3. Two or three Indian trade delegations would visit Pakistan immediately after the return of the LCCI delegation.

He said that the tour would help in evolving the future business strategy with India, which was the major business player in Saarc countries under the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA).

He said that there were both challenges as well as opportunities in trade with India. He said that majority of the delegation members were from the textiles, weaving, dying and finishing, plastic, steel, pharmaceutical, leather, tourism, chemicals and handicrafts industries.

Answering questions, he said that mutual trade was beneficial for all the Saarc countries. Indian agricultural products were not likely to be imported as long as the government was giving subsidies on agriculture. The Indian government was even subsidizing the power supply bills of farmers by 51 per cent.

Our Staff Reporter from Karachi adds: A broad-based trade delegation of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), led by its President Siraj Kassam Teli, had left for New Delhi on Tuesday.

The delegation during its stay will visit P.H.D. Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Confederation of Indian Industry, Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The delegation is also likely to call on the Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Commerce Minister and Industry Minister, as well as senior government officials of India.

The delegation would also visit Mumbai and will hold meetings with the Mumbai Chamber and Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce and Industry. They would also hold individual meetings and visit industrial sites also.

The underlying idea of the visit of the delegation is to have on-the-spot study of Indian market with a view to exploring the two-way trade opportunities particularly in the context of emerging congenial atmosphere between India and Pakistan, says a KCCI press release.