The Hindu : `Pakistan not putting up Bangladesh to stymie SAFTA'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 28, 2003

National

National

`Pakistan not putting up Bangladesh to stymie SAFTA'

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI DEC. 27. A senior Government official today dismissed suggestions that Pakistan was putting up Bangladesh to stymie progress on a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) framework agreement.

S.S. Kapoor, Joint Secretary in the Commerce Ministry, told presspersons in the presence of the Foreign Secretary, Shashank, that it was not "true" that Bangladesh, which has insisted on concessions for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), had been put up by Pakistan.

Speaking on the basis of his experience as the Indian representative on the committee of experts negotiating the SAFTA framework accord, Mr. Kapoor said that on most issues, India and Pakistan had a common stand. "We think that they [the Pakistanis] are keen to finalise this [SAFTA]."

He stressed that Pakistan not giving the Most-Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India would cease to be an issue if SAFTA came into being. If SAFTA happened, then MFN, too, would take place automatically.

Stating that SAFTA would come into effect from January 1, 2006 if the SAARC Foreign Secretaries and Foreign Ministers were able to resolve the differences before the summit, Mr. Kapoor maintained that the 10th SAARC summit in 1998 had authorised negotiations on a free trade area.

The first meeting of experts took place in 1999, three in 2002 and another two in 2003. A special meeting of Commerce Secretaries took place on December 23-24, but some issues remained to be sorted out. "What has remained pending is the issue of time-frame."

The LDCs were insisting that the three developed countries in SAARC — a reference to India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — should open up their markets to their products in the next three years. Further discussion was expected on the issue when the Foreign Secretaries meet in Islamabad, he said.

The LDCs also did not want a negative list to be maintained by the developing countries within SAARC for their (LDC) exports. Mr. Kapoor said that some kind of an arrangement like the one that existed for Sri Lankan tea exports to India could be put into place. These countries also did not want the developing countries to initiate anti-dumping measures against them. Stating that no compromise was possible beyond a point, Mr. Kapoor said India's position had to be consistent with the regulations of the World Trade Organisation.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National