This should not happen.
US persuading Pak to grant MFN status to India
Press Trust of India
Islamabad, February 6
The United States is persuading Pakistan to grant ‘Most Favoured Nation (MFN)’ status to India, as part of its efforts to normalise ties between the two countries, media reported on Thursday.
The Commercial Secretary of US embassy in Islamabad was in contact with Pakistan’s commerce ministry to convince Pakistani government on the need for stepping up trade ties with India, local daily Dawn reported.
During the informal meetings, the US embassy officials tried to find issues which forbade Pakistan to reciprocate India’s gesture of granting MFN status to Pakistan, it said.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Foreign Secretary Riaz Kokhar last moth had assured visiting Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy that a draft was being prepared to grant trade concessions to India.
New Delhi extended the MFN status to Pakistan under the SAARC charter several years ago.
However, Pakistan’s Commerce Minister, Humayun Akthar continues to maintain that Islamabad would not grant the MFN status until India begins talks on Kashmir and the dialogue made some progress, the daily said.
The MFN status was seen as the key to persuade India to attend the SAARC summit which has already been postponed by Pakistan, accusing India of delaying response to its invitation.
Islamabad now proposes to hold the summit in July and the MFN draft was expected to be ready by that time.
Flourishing trade ties, totalling around $700 million existed between the two countries before they snapped air, rail and road links with each other last year.
Such was the compulsion of trade ties between the two countries that after the suspension of transport links, most of the trade reportedly took place through the shipping lines between Mumbai and Karachi.
Besides the $700 million bilateral trade, India and Pakistan traded through third countries also.
Most of the Indian heavy machinery, specially in the field of textiles were imported by Pakistan businessmen through Dubai and Singapore.
Pakistan’s grievances:
• India has been using the MFN status issue as a pretext to malign Pakistan and block its entry into the Indian Ocean Rim Organization, Bangkok Agreement, etc.
• It considers India’s attitude towards it hostile in every area ranging from foreign affairs to cricket.
• Blocking of aerial and land routes by India.
• During the second meeting of the fourth round of SAPTA in October 2002, the Indian government refused to exchange concession on more items with Pakistan.