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Zafar Mahmood<br />
We also arranged an exhibition, entitled “Lifestyle <strong>Pakistan</strong>,” in<br />
<strong>India</strong> from April 12–15, 2012. <strong>Pakistan</strong>’s commerce minister was present<br />
in <strong>India</strong> during this exhibition, and was accompanied by a trade mission<br />
of more than 100 businessmen.<br />
Despite all these efforts, there are still many in <strong>Pakistan</strong>’s private sector<br />
who remain unconvinced and deeply apprehensive about doing business<br />
with <strong>India</strong>. Admittedly, I have appeared on talk shows on television,<br />
and faced tough questions to explain the need for trade liberalization.<br />
enCouraGinG siGns<br />
There is a generally held belief about the role of <strong>Pakistan</strong>’s security establishment.<br />
Most people think that it is against normalization of trade<br />
relations with <strong>India</strong>.<br />
On the contrary, <strong>Pakistan</strong>’s security agencies have never interfered<br />
with imports from <strong>India</strong>. This has also been confirmed by Dr. Taneja in<br />
the aforementioned ICRIER report:<br />
The identification of trading firms was relatively simpler in the<br />
survey conducted in <strong>Pakistan</strong> than in <strong>India</strong>. Unlike the <strong>India</strong>n<br />
survey, none of the traders denied trading with <strong>India</strong> and discussions<br />
were held in a free and open manner. In addition several<br />
members of the FPCCI and the Chambers of Commerce interested<br />
in trading with <strong>India</strong> volunteered to give interviews. 3<br />
This is further validated by the fact that <strong>Pakistan</strong>’s trade relations with<br />
<strong>India</strong> were on an MFN-basis under military governments, which were in<br />
power starting in 1958. Bilateral trade thrived during those periods.<br />
Additionally, as commerce secretary, I can say with all honesty that<br />
during this normalization process, no one from the security establishment<br />
has ever contacted me to even discuss this issue.<br />
We all have our own perceptions. However, we generally tend to<br />
underestimate the role of the private sector in shaping public opinion.<br />
When the private sector felt that <strong>India</strong> was not sincere in establishing<br />
business relations with <strong>Pakistan</strong>, there was little progress. When this perception<br />
began to change, we covered a lot of ground within a short<br />
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