India, Pak agree to fast-track trade ties, work on PTA

Addu Atoll, Maldives: India and Pakistan have agreed to work for a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and fast-track bilateral trade normalization process on an Most Favoured Nation (MFN) basis.

They also agreed to put in place at the earliest a liberalised visa regime, which had already been negotiated, to promote people-to-people contact. This was agreed upon at an hour-long meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani here yesterday ahead of the 17th SAARC Summit. Briefing reporters on the meeting between the two leaders, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said the Prime Ministers agreed that measures to facilitate trade and travel across the Line of Control (LOC) as decided between the Foreign Ministers during their July 2011 meeting, should be implemented expeditiously.
“One important issue that the two Prime Ministers addressed was in the era of trade and economic relations,” Mr Mathai said.