The Hindu : National : India, Pakistan to set up Joint Business Council

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 18, 2005

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National

India, Pakistan to set up Joint Business Council

Special Correspondent

`Movement towards MFN status for India'

NEW DELHI: In what may be viewed as a historic step towards strengthening the bilateral trade and economic ties, India and Pakistan on Sunday decided to set up a Joint Business Council (JBC) of their apex industry associations.

Alongside, extending a fresh whiff of hope for greater commerce and "official" trade between the business fraternity of the two countries was Pakistan's indication that it may move towards according the `Most Favoured Nation' (MFN) status to India. These forward-looking moves were taken at a 40-minute meeting that the Commerce Minister, Kamal Nath, had with his Pakistani counterpart, Humayun Akhtar Khan, on the sidelines of the Summit-level talks between the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, during the day.

"We have agreed to set up a JBC to facilitate interaction amongst business and to strengthen economic ties and promote trade," Mr. Kamal Nath told waiting newspersons after the meeting. The chambers of the two countries were to meet now to work out the nitty-gritty for setting up the council, he said.

Interestingly, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) already has a joint business commission in place with its Pakistani counterpart, the Federation of the Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI). A FICCI delegation is to visit Islamabad soon to work with FPCCI for early setting up of the JBC.

Non-tariff barriers

Mr. Kamal Nath also informed newspersons that on the directive of the Prime Minister, New Delhi had further agreed to lift any non-tariff barriers that might be "perceived" to be coming in the way of Pakistan's trade with India.

It was also agreed that the joint study group (JSG), which has already been set up between the two countries, is to meet in June this year to sort out the specific problems that are viewed as coming in the way.

During the Summit-level talks, Mr. Kamal Nath disclosed, it was agreed between Dr. Singh and Gen. Musharraf that all hindrances must be removed and non-tariff barriers dismantled as soon as possible to have a meaningful "open door" policy.

This development was endorsed by Mr. Khan who noted that the specific details of non-tariff barriers would be spelt out at the time of the JSG meeting in June in Islamabad.

"We are very happy and encouraged to see that political dialogue was moving forward, enabling us to expand trade and economic ties," Mr. Khan said.

MFN status

The "key and important" point is granting MFN status to India by Pakistan and "we shall now consider it and Islamabad has not put any pre-condition for this," he said.

India has already given MFN status to Pakistan, and the trade balance was in favour of India, he said. The two Ministers have also decided to work towards evolving common positions on WTO issues, apart from agreeing to fight for geographical indications for `Basmati' rice, which is unique to the region.

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