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Pakistan offers cellular roaming facility to Indian companies

B. Muralidhar Reddy

But it depends on a reciprocal offer by India

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has offered to allow cellular roaming facility to Indian companies on a reciprocal basis.

"We have even offered Indian companies to get the roaming facility here and we would facilitate them," Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, Pakistan Minister for Information Technology and Telecom, told the Daily Times.

Mr. Leghari said most Indian cell phone companies availed themselves of the Pakistani facility to offer their subscribers roaming facility during the India-Pakistan cricket series in March 2004. It was limited for a period of four months. "We allow our companies to offer roaming in India. But there is a problem from the Indian side as they neither allow their companies nor offer the facility to Pakistani operators."

Sugar import ban goes

In a significant move towards improving trade ties with India, Pakistan has lifted a four-year ban on sugar imports as part of the strategy to bring down prices on the domestic front.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) presided over by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. The ECC keeps a close watch on the prices of essential commodities and take corrective decisions.

The committee decided in May to allow import of six essential commodities from India including through the Wagha land route, which was closed for goods traffic after the 1965 war. The committee was told on Tuesday that import of garlic, potato and tomato from India has helped stabilise the price situation in the domestic market.

An official told the press that Pakistan was already in touch with a firm in India for sugar.

Pakistan has not been able to check sugar prices which reached a four-year high in February due to inadequate rainfall.

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