Trade amid terror: Pakistan PM Sharif proposes, India disposes
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is looking to forge a trade partnership with India even as Islamabad is planning to shift from geo-strategy to geo-economics. "Pakistan and India have a lot to gain from mutually beneficial trade," the Dawn quoted the PM as saying when asked about trade with India in an interview with Turkish media outlet Anadolu Agency.
- After the February 2019 Pulwama terror attack, India withdrew the 'Most Favored Nation' status it had unilaterally granted Pakistan in 1996.
- All goods originating from Pakistan were imposed with a customs duty of 200%.
- Cross-Line of Control (LoC) trade was suspended by India in April 2019, while Pakistan suspended bilateral trade with India in August 2019.
In reply to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's congratulatory message to Sharif in April, the latter had expressed his desire for "peaceful and cooperative ties with India" and the resolution of all the outstanding issues. However, in his first address to the National Assembly, Sharif had said, "We want good ties with India but durable peace is not possible until the Kashmir dispute is resolved."
Pakistan is not willing to give up the Kashmir issue but wants to resume trade talks with India. India is clear in its stand that trade and terror can't go hand-in-hand and wants Pakistan to act against terror groups. The situation is akin to China wanting bilateral trade with India but not willing to take down military pressure along the Line of Actual Control.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday India and Pakistan signed the annual report of the Permanent Indus Commission for the year which ended on March 31. The Indus Water Treaty is a water-distribution treaty between the two nations arranged and negotiated by the World Bank. It was signed in 1960 by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the then Pakistani President Ayub Khan in Karachi.
