By IANS,
Islamabad : New thinking and untried solutions are the need of the hour in Pakistan, India ties, said a daily while noting that both countries were on the road to normalising trade relations.
An editorial in the News International Friday said overriding reservations of the ministries of textile and industries, which were pushing for restricted trade with India to protect domestic manufacturers, the cabinet unanimously approved switching over from a positive to negative list trade regime with India.
The move will raise the number of items that can be imported from 1,946 to almost 5,600 and allow the import of about 90 percent of all the items that India normally exports.
“…optimistically, the cabinet’s decision will pave the way for complete liberalisation of trade by the end of the year and culminate in the Most Favoured Nation status to India,” said the daily.
It added: “New thinking and untried solutions are the need of the hour and both the Indian and Pakistani sides seem committed to alternatives. The Pakistan Army also seems to be on board with the latest developments. One hopes that this momentum will keep up.”
To reap the full benefits of Pakistan-India trade, the daily said that “completion of infrastructure facilities on Wagah border also needs to be expedited so that trade by land, about which the cabinet took a decision in 2008, can be initiated”.
The editorial observed that both countries were on the “road to normalising trade relations, made possible by the resumption of commerce secretary-level talks last April”.
“The peace constituency in both countries seems to be growing as more and more people understand that peace is a prerequisite for an economically flourishing and blossoming South Asia.”