Resume business ties: SAARC chamber to India, Pak
Friday, 09 May 2003, 19:30 IST
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ISLAMABAD: A regional industry lobby plans to meet the prime ministers of India and Pakistan to urge them to immediately resume trade ties, media reports said. "We, the business community, will provide all out support to any initiative which could improve relations between the two neighbours and strengthen regional economies," the Dawn quoted Padma Jyoti, president of the SAARC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (SARC), as saying. The industry lobby is located in Kathmandu, where the seven-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is currently headquartered. Referring to Pakistan Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali's invitation to his Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee to visit Islamabad, the inclusion of 78 items in the bilateral trade list and a request to the SAARC secretariat to convene a summit in Islamabad, Jyoti said: "We believe that the political leadership of India will give a matching response to this friendly gesture made by Pakistan". The summit, which was to be held in Islamabad in January, was postponed after India refused to attend, citing Pakistan's sponsorship of cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Jyoti also urged Pakistan to give India most favoured nation (MFN) status without delay to reap the benefits of trade and economic cooperation. Pakistan says trade ties with India can be resumed after MFN status is granted. India had granted MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, but Islamabad is yet to reciprocate. Jyoti urged the governments of the SAARC countries to take advantage of the India-Pakistan thaw to convene summit-level talks on trade and sign a treaty on creating a SAARC Free Trade Area (SAFTA). Such a treaty would "show the world that SAARC meant business," he contended.
Source: IANS
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