Pakistan-India Trade:

Recommendations

Info

Moving Toward Pakistan-India Trade Normalization: An Overview This further reinforced the impression in the minds of Pakistan’s exporters that India would not allow unhindered access to its market. When I mentioned the contents of the report to India’s delegation after the resumption of the Composite Dialogue in 2011, they responded by saying that the role of their security agencies was justified after the Mumbai attacks. However, the fact is that the Mumbai attacks took place in 2008, while the report was published in 2007. Another adverse development was India’s opposition to an EU concessionary package. In 2010, Pakistan’s economy suffered a severe jolt when heavy floods, described by the UN Secretary General as a “tsunami in slow motion,” damaged crops and infrastructure, and caused considerable losses in human lives. The EU promptly announced a limited package to help Pakistan cope with the economic consequences of this catastrophe. The package had to go to the WTO for a waiver. A meeting of the WTO’s Council for Trade in Goods (CTG) to discuss the package was held on November 29, 2010. I was in Geneva before the package was due for discussion, and requested a meeting with Mr. Das Gupta, India’s ambassador and permanent representative to the WTO at that time. I spent at least an hour in his office, and tried to explain that the package had no commercial consequences for India. If India was seen to be opposing this package, I said, it would further reinforce the negative perceptions of Pakistan’s traders. He appreciated the points I was making, but when the package came up for discussion in the CTG, India promptly opposed it, as did some other countries. Pakistan and India play cricket with a passion, and it so happened that the World Cup semi-final match was played in Mohali, India, on March 30, 2011. The Indian prime minister invited his Pakistani counterpart to watch the match. The Indian side agreed to Pakistan’s request regarding the withdrawal of India’s objections to the granting of the WTO waiver. The prime minister of Pakistan informed his country’s private sector that the Indian prime minister had accepted his request. This was appreciated by all. After the resumption of the Composite Dialogue, the 5th round of Pakistan-India commerce secretary-level talks took place on April 27–28, 2011, in Islamabad. Indian Commerce Secretary Mr. Rahul Khular appeared to be a serious and sincere person. He was | 23 |
Zafar Mahmood pleased to know that even before the talks had started, the Ministry of Commerce in Pakistan had started a consultation process with the Chambers of Commerce and Industry to switch over from a positive list to a negative list for imports from India. The joint statement issued at the end of the two-day meeting established a working group dedicated to addressing and resolving sector-specific barriers to trade. It was decided that Pakistan would remove its restrictions on trade by land route as soon as the infrastructure in Wagah was ready. The scope of cooperation was expanded to include electricity, petroleum, cotton seeds, banking, visas, railways, and the integration of chambers. More importantly, the joint statement mentioned that the granting of MFN status to India would help increase bilateral trade. However, the normalization process was still not moving forward, as India had not withdrawn its objection to the EU package at the WTO. In July 2011, the EU informed Pakistan that the concessionary package would not be taken again to the WTO unless India gave its approval. This created widespread dismay within Pakistan’s business circles, and the president of the Pakistan Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry wrote to his counterpart organizations in India to protest the move. Fortuitously, a helpful development emerged around this time: Mr. Anand Sharma, the minister of commerce and industry of India, who has a clear vision regarding trade normalization, took over the textile portfolio on July 12, 2011. On the invitation of Mr. Anand Sharma, Pakistan’s commerce minister visited India from September 26–30, 2011, and was accompanied by a strong business delegation. This was the first visit by a commerce minister from Pakistan to India in 35 years. The major outcome of this visit was the political ownership of the trade normalization process. Additionally, India unilaterally offered not to oppose the EU package at the WTO. The two ministers also agreed to: a. Full normalization of trade relations b. Dismantling of NTBs c. Full implementation of obligations under the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Agreement on SAFTA | 24 |
Page 1 and 2: Pakistan-India Trade: What Needs To
Page 3 and 4: This publication marks a collaborat
Page 5 and 6: Available from : Asia Program Woodr
Page 8 and 9: | vii | Contents The Pakistan-india
Page 10 and 11: The Pakistan-India Trade Relationsh
Page 28 and 29: Moving Toward Pakistan-India Trade
Page 40 and 41: Pakistan’s Trade with India: Thin
Page 56 and 57: BoX 2: The new (old) road to Kashmi
Page 62 and 63: Perspectives from India | 53 | ARVI
Page 64 and 65: Perspectives from India growth econ
Page 66 and 67: Perspectives from India Pakistan. T
Page 68 and 69: Managing India-Pakistan Trade Relat
Page 82 and 83:
Managing India-Pakistan Trade Relat
Page 84 and 85:
Additional Trade Challenges: Transp
Page 86 and 87:
Page 88 and 89:
Page 90 and 91:
Product Code Additional Trade Chall
Page 92 and 93:
Page 94 and 95:
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98 and 99:
Page 100 and 101:
Page 102 and 103:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
What Can India and Pakistan Do To M
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Non-Trade-Related Stakes of the Pak
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Recent Asia Program Publications Pa
Page 140 and 141:
Recent Asia Program Publications Ch
Page 142 and 143:
Recent Asia Program Publications Th
Page 144 and 145:
Woodrow Wilson Center Pakistan Scho
show all

Pakistan-India Trade:

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?