Breakthrough seen in Pak-India trade talks

ISLAMABAD: Federal Secretary Commerce Zafar Mehmood is hopeful of a breakthrough in an upcoming trade meeting with his Indian counterpart.

Talking to media, he said that the summary regarding granting India the most favoured nation (MFN) status was sent to Federal Cabinet after they (government) had taken all the concerned parties i.e. chambers of commerce, trade bodies etc. aboard.
He had high hopes of a breakthrough in the Pakistan-India trade talks set for November 14-15.
Pakistan would now add to trade with India through the negative list of import/export items, adding the said list would also be reduced to push the trade envelope further.
Secretary commerce went ahead to say that Pakistan would not raise any non-trade hurdles, but steps of the like can be taken in the broader interest of local industry.
Mehmood informed newsmen that the law discourages a debate on trade affairs in the parliament and granting a country MFN status did not require any legislation or cosigning an agreement.
To a question, he said that in India’s MFN status case the prime minister is supposed to give a policy statement on it in the parliament.
The government had also had Secret services have their say on the issue before it reached the Cabinet.