The Hindu : National : Pakistan links free trade accord with improvement in ties

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 24, 2005

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National

Pakistan links free trade accord with improvement in ties

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI, FEB. 23. Pakistan has linked a possible free trade agreement (FTA) with India to an improvement in the political environment between the two countries. The Pakistani Commerce Secretary, Tasneem Noorani, said if this happened there was ``no denying'' that an FTA was the right way to go.

``It is not possible for me to say that we are working towards that (FTA). We have an open mind on this,'' Mr. Noorani said after two days of talks with his Indian counterpart, S.N. Menon, as part of their Joint Study Group (JSG) on trade and economic cooperation.

Asked whether Indian companies would be able to participate in tenders floated by Pakistani entities, the Commerce Secretary replied, ``that's still in the pipeline.''

A joint statement issued by the two sides said they had agreed to constitute two working/sub-groups — the first on customs cooperation and trade facilitation and the second on non-tariff barriers. They also agreed to the terms of reference for the two sub-groups.

``The two sides identified issues relating to bilateral trade and deliberated upon the future roadmap in order to enhance trade and economic cooperation. It was also agreed to hold the second meeting of the JSG on mutually-agreed dates,'' it said. The JSG recommendations would be submitted to the two governments under the composite dialogue framework.

``Relations moving forward''

Asked what his view was of the current political environment between the two countries, the Pakistani High Commissioner, Aziz Ahmed Khan, said the visit of the External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, to Islamabad, showed that relations were moving in the right direction. Mr. Khan favoured simultaneous movement in all areas in the composite dialogue process.

``This is self-evident,'' Mr. Noorani said when asked at the press interaction whether there was a need to improve the political climate. Trade relations, he stated, had to move in tandem with other subjects in the composite dialogue.

On whether the Indian side had raised the issue of Most-Favoured Nation status, Mr. Noorani said this would be taken up in the composite dialogue and not in the JSG. He expressed a similar view when asked whether India had sought transit of its goods through Pakistan into Afghanistan and Central Asia.

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