NEW DELHI, Dec 29: The Indian cabinet approved on Thursday the introduction of a pact with its neighbours from Jan 1, to promote free trade and economic ties in South Asia.

Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said India would initially cut customs duties by five per cent for goods imported from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives and Nepal after the launch of the South Asia Free Trade Area (Safta) agreement.

Though some member countries are yet to ratify the pact, Indian officials said New Delhi would go ahead with implementing the agreement from Jan 1, and was hopeful its neighbours would follow suit.

“This is a first major step for a free-trade agreement with the neighbours,” Mr Nath told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

The seven-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) first mooted the trade pact in 1995.

Under the pact, Saarc’s developing states, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, will cut tariffs to between zero and five per cent within seven years of the start of the agreement.

Its least developed countries, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and the Maldives, have 10 years to complete the process, though all members can maintain a list of sensitive products on which tariffs will not be reduced.

“There is a special dispensation for the least developed countries for the revenue loss,” Mr Nath said.—Reuters

Opinion

Editorial

Forgotten inmates
26 Feb, 2025

Forgotten inmates

PAKISTAN’S jails are an embarrassment to any notion of justice and rehabilitation. A report prepared by the...
Controlling crypto
26 Feb, 2025

Controlling crypto

THOUGH Pakistan’s official position on cryptocurrencies has evolved considerably over the years, there still seems...
Deadly roads
26 Feb, 2025

Deadly roads

DRIVING in Karachi can be hazardous, with chaos on the roads, and very little by way of following rules and...
All out
Updated 25 Feb, 2025

All out

PAKISTAN cricket captain Mohammad Rizwan’s assessment was brutal — it could not have been any other way. At ...
Bearing the brunt
25 Feb, 2025

Bearing the brunt

FOR the past several months, we have repeatedly been told by the prime minister and his cabinet that the government...
Afghan resettlement
25 Feb, 2025

Afghan resettlement

AFGHAN refugees who fled their country after the Taliban took over in 2021, and who hoped to resettle in the West,...