Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said that the relevant stakeholders would “seriously examine” the trade situation with India as he highlighted the concerns of the business community.
Pakistan, under the government of then-prime minister Imran Khan, had downgraded diplomatic relations with New Delhi and suspended all bilateral trade in August 2019, when India revoked occupied Kashmir’s special status by repealing Article 370 of its constitution.
In March 2021, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had announced it would allow the private sector to import 0.5 million tonnes of white sugar from India and cotton via the Wagah border. However, the decision was reversed within days following severe criticism from the opposition.
In December, ex-premier and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif had stressed the need to improve relationships with Pakistan’s neighbours, stating: “We have to fix our affairs with India and Afghanistan as well, [and] strengthen them further with Iran and China.”
Addressing a press conference in London on Saturday, Dar, who has previously served as the finance minister, termed the August 2019 move by India as an “extreme step” and “very painful”. He noted that there were United Nations Security Council resolutions present on the “ongoing dispute”.
However, the foreign minister highlighted that the business community often made appeals and demands with regards to the trade situation with India.
Recalling a meeting with the business community before presenting last year’s budget, he said, “Everyone’s appeal was the same — that our imports, which are still ongoing, arrive via Dubai or Singapore, [resulting in] extra freight, extra transhipment, transportation costs, etc.
“So we will seriously examine this. All of us stakeholders will sit together and see whether we can […] at least to the extent of economic activities and trade,” he said.“We will see what can be done about it,” the ex-finance minister said, stressing: “ But I cannot give you a ‘yes or no’ answer because it requires consultation.“
Commenting on the recent tensions between Islamabad and Kabul following a strike on militant bases in Afghanistan, Dar said that Pakistan “should not be misunderstood”.
“Firstly, they (Afghanistan) are our neighbours. Secondly, they are our brothers and thirdly, we have a common culture. I am upset that despite the new [Afghan] regime … such [terror] acts should stop now,” the finance minister said.
