By IRNA,
Islamabad: In a visible sign of improvement in bilateral ties, senior Pakistani and Indian commerce ministry officials opened two-day talks in Islamabad on Wednesday to explore ways to boot bilateral trade.
Indian Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar, who arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday, said that enhanced trade relationship is the best confidence building measure in bilateral ties.
The trade negotiation is part of the ‘Composite Dialogue’ process suspended in the wake of the 2008 attacks in the Indian commercial center of Mumbai. The process was revived by the two countries earlier last month when the home and interior secretaries met in New Delhi and discussed cooperation to counter terrorism and cross-border crimes.
Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim told reporters after he met Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal in Islamabad that India’s offer to sell oil and electricity to Pakistan will also prominently figure in the talks. Fahim said the talks, the first in over two years, would be open and all issues will come under discussion.
Pakistan Commerce Secretary, Zafar Mahmood, is leading his country’s delegation and officials said the two sides will issue a joint statement at the conclusion of negotiations on Thursday. Both sides said ahead of the talks there is no specific agenda and there would be an open agenda to discuss all issues to boost ties.
Officials said Pakistan is likely to discuss European Union plans to temporarily waive duties on some Pakistani imports to help it recover from last summer’s floods, which Pakistani officials say have been frustrated by opposition from India and other members of the World Trade Organization.
The average Pakistan-India annual trade volume is around two billion dollars. A total of 1,946 items are being traded between the two countries. However, the total trade has fallen from over 2.2 billion dollars in 2008-9 to about 1.5 billion dollars in 2009-10. Indian exports to Pakistan stood at $1.2 billion while Pakistan exports totaled about $270 million in the 2009/10 (July-June) fiscal year. Unregulated and illegal trade, often routed through Dubai and Singapore, is estimated at between $2 billion and $2.5 billion, officials say.
After the last round of trade talks held in August 2007, the two sides added some 136 items to their trade basket which now contains 1,946 goods. At that meeting, the two sides had set a target of $10 billion by 2010.