KARACHI, Dec 13: The third Saarc business leaders conclave scheduled to be held in Islamabad in February next year is likely to become a victim of the current imbroglio between India and Pakistan.

With little scope of generating interest in either side of the border amongst the private sector the Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry is said to be weighing its options and seems reluctant to hold the event at this juncture.

India and Pakistan being major players in the Saarc region have an important role in setting the tone of all such meetings. However, presently they are entangled in a ‘blame game’ after the Mumbai carnage casting a shadow on the success of the mega economic event.

The event provides opportunity to the business community of the member states to interact and improve their bilateral trade relations. The first two conclaves were held in Indian cities of Delhi and Mumbai.

The United States, European Union, Iran, China, South Korea and Japan are observers and the World Bank associates closely with all such events.

Tariq Sayeed, the president Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry told Dawn that presently, he was soliciting suggestions from regional leaders regarding the proposed event.

Responding to a question, he said, personally, he would like to see it postponed for some time to ensure the success of such an important event, which has a lot to offer to business community of India and Pakistan, in particular.

The third Saarc business leaders meeting was expecting to invite Sri Lankan president as its chief guest with many ministers and state ministers attending the conclave, he added.

Tariq Sayeed said that business community of both the countries wanted to come closer through better trade relations. But without normalising relations this was not possible and unfortunately, presently everything is at standstill between them.

Citing an example, he said that under South Asia Free Trade Agreement (Safta) tariffs between Saarc member states would be zero rated by 2016 and services sector is also being brought under the ambit of the trade agreement.

He further said that Pakistan had already allowed Indian investment on case- to-case basis and similarly India should also grant permission to Pakistani investment.

The business community of both the countries, he said, is playing a major role in track-two diplomacy and there is a growing realisation in India that it could not progress without having normal relations with Pakistan. Similarly, without proper promotion of regional trade there could be no progress in both the countries, he maintained.

The Saarc chamber chief said that already, India had agreed to issue multiple visas to 500 Pakistani businessmen.

He disclosed that soon a meeting of immigration officials of both the countries will be held at which the issue of increasing number of business visa between the two countries will be on the agenda.

Under a programme all businessmen having multiple visas will also have Saarc stickers, which would allow them free movement in member countries. All this shows that business community of both the countries is keen to normalise and improve relations between them.