NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha could not have hoped for a bigger opportunity and a better audience to sell his economic diplomacy. The occasion was the third meeting of the India-Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IPCCI) held at the conference of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here. The theme of the meeting was: "India-Pakistan Trade: An Agenda for Revival and Growth." It was the largest gathering of Indian and Pakistani businessmen in the Indian capital in a long time. The Indian minister quoted facts and figures to tell the Pakistanis that there were no losers in economic cooperation. Judging by the applause he received from the visitors, the message went down well even though Pakistan's High Commissioner-designate Aziz Ahmed Khan, who arrived here only last week, laid down the official Pakistani line - India was only interested in "one-sided export strategies". However, delegation leader and IPCCI president Senator Ilyas Ahmed Bilour appeared to reflect Sinha's sentiments when he said the two sides had been victims of "misconception and mistrust" for far too long. It was time to change that, he said. Said Sinha: "Apprehensions that the large economy will inevitably swamp the smaller neighbouring economies are not borne out by reality." Both Sinha and the Pakistani envoy agreed that the two countries had not fully exploited their common potential to boost trade ties. Sinha noted that official trade between the two countries had hovered around $200-250 million for several years. This was much lower than India's trade with other neighbours - Bangladesh ($1 billion), Sri Lanka (close to $1 billion) and Nepal ($600 million). "The level of trade with Pakistan is clearly not natural, since Pakistan's economy is larger. Let us not forget that at the time of independence more than 50 percent of Pakistan's exports and 30 percent of its imports were accounted for by India," the minister said. He referred to trade relations between the U.S. and its neighbours Canada and Mexico. In both cases, although U.S. was the stronger economy, trade balances were in favour of Canada and Mexico. "Apprehensions, therefore, that the larger economy will inevitably swamp the smaller neighbouring economies are not borne out by reality," Sinha said, adding, "Balance of trade is a reflection of complementarities in the economies." "Goods from other neighbourhood economies with whom Pakistan has normal trade have not swamped Pakistani markets," Sinha said and noted that Pakistani exports accounted for $750 million of the $1.8 billion trade the country had with China in 2002. "There is no need, therefore, to harbour any special fears about India. The wide range of products of potential trade such as chemicals, industrial machinery, cement, tyres, tea, pharmaceuticals etc. clearly show the complementarities that exist between our two economies," the minister explained. Bilateral trade between India and other regional countries had not been to the disadvantage of those countries nor had it been to the sole advantage of India, he said. Sri Lankan exports to India had gone up by 137 percent after the two countries signed a free trade agreement, he pointed out. "Consequently, we have now created a joint study group which is studying how to take us to the next generation of economic partnership with a focus on trade in services and investments in each other's country." The minister described the lack of progress in the South Asian Free Trade Arrangement (SAFTA) and the South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) as "unfortunate". He reminded his audience that it had been 18 years since the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was set up to forge economic cooperation between the seven countries of the region. "There is much that we can achieve together," he said and noted the two countries had worked successfully and productively in international forums, including the W.T.O. and in the U.N. The Pakistani envoy -- expected to present his credentials to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam soon -- said it was "disheartening" that nearly half of the population of South Asia, accounting for one-fifth of humanity, lived below the poverty line. "We must explore all avenues and reinforce synergies among regional countries to ensure a better future for our people by building a dynamic, vibrant and prosperous South Asia," Khan said. "We in Pakistan are convinced that our two countries are not destined to remain locked in perpetual confrontation," he said and added that the development of tension-free and cooperative relations was in the interest of both countries. He said trade and economic cooperation flourished in an atmosphere of peace, amity and cooperation. The low intra-regional trade in South Asian could only be attributed to the "persistence of suspicion-prone and conflict-ridden relations" between India and Pakistan, the two major countries of the region.
Source: IANS