ISLAMABAD: A day after the cabinet approved trade normalisation process with India, a series of meetings are being planned with various stakeholders on the vital issue of bolstering economic relations between the two countries.
In the first of what may be a series of meetings, a high-level meeting has been convened at the Foreign Office on Friday to review the renewed dialogue process which was halted by India after the Mumbai attacks.
The meeting, to be presided over by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, will be attended by both civilian and military representatives. They include ISI Director General Lt-Gen Shuja Pasha, Lt-Gen Mohammad Asif from Joint Chief of Staff Committee (Headquarters), Lt-Gen Waheed Arshad from General Headquarters, Defence Secretary Lt-Gen (retd) Syed Athar Ali, Commerce Secretary Zafar Mahmood and Interior Secretary K.M. Siddique Akbar.
A source in the Foreign Office said the meeting would discuss the progress so far achieved in the dialogue process between the two countries, which resumed after the completion of the first round of composite dialogue in April. “The meeting will also discuss the way forward,” he added.
“Giving MFN (most favoured nation) status to India is a step forward. It is a positive sign,” retired army general and analyst Talat Masood told Dawn.
He said Pakistan’s economy was facing crisis and in acute distress following the India-Afghanistan trade agreement and souring ties with the United States after the killing of Osama bin Laden.
Since Islamabad was being alienated by Washington the US, Mr Masood said, bolstering relationships at the regional level was in the interest of everyone. “Improvement in ties with India is even in the interest of our military. It is a good opportunity for Pakistan.”
Asked if the army was on board, the retired general said he believed the military leadership had given a go-ahead for normalising trade relations with India.
The MFN status means that every time a country lowers trade barriers or opens up its market it has to do so for the same goods or services from all its trading partners whether rich or poor, weak or strong.
“The political government’s move to normalise trade ties with India is a good gesture,” security analyst Dr Ayesha Siddiqa said. But she feared that hawkish elements within the government might reverse the ‘historic decision’.
“Trade normalisation is good for the region,” she said, adding that she had heard that the MFN status had been granted to India some three months ago.
The composite dialogue was started to discuss all important issues, including water, Siachen and Kashmir disputes. But so far no progress has been made in these areas, except trade where India got maximum access for its goods to the Pakistani market with the increase in the number of items on the positive list.
Islamabad-based development economist Dr Abid Suleri said the normalisation of trade with India would benefit consumers and medium-scale manufacturers.
He said the “blind protection” given to automobile and pharmaceutical sectors in Pakistan should come to an end and the government should focus on consumer protection.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on textile industry, Dr Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, claimed that the entire business community, including the chambers of commerce, had supported the government’s move to grant the MFN status to India. “The government’s cautious move of liberalising trade with India is a welcome step.”
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