India, Pak to "normalise" eco ties, take trade to USD 6 bn

New Delhi, Sep 28 (PTI) India and Pakistan Wednesday
agreed to "normalise" their economic relations, setting an
ambitious target of more than doubling bilateral trade to USD
six billion within three years.
Pakistan has also agreed to implement all the obligations
under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) Agreement-
meeting long pending demnd from India.
The two nations, with commercial engagement of only USD
2.7 billion, "agreed to jointly work to more than double
bilateral trade within three years ...to USD six billion," a
joint statement said after a meeting between Commerce and
Industry Minister Anand Sharma and Pakistan Commerce Minister
Makhdoom Amin Fahim here.
"The ministers affirmed that fully normalised commercial
link... would strengthen the bilateral relationship and build
the bridges of friendship, trust and understanding for mutual
benefit of their people and promotion of prosperity in South
Asia," it said.
Fahim, who is accompanied by a 50-member business
delegation, is the first Pakistan Commerce Minister to visit
India after more than 35 years. Before coming here, he met
Indian businessmen in western Indian city Mumbai in the last
two days.
For normalising the business ties,the ministers "agreed
that all mutual obligations contracted under South Asian Free
Trade Area (SAFTA) would be implemented with full sincerity".
On India's demand for the Most Favoured Nation (MFN)
status by Pakistan, Fahim said, "things are moving forward
according to plan. We are looking forward to achieve the
target".
The Pakistan side said that it will allow imports from
India on all but few items (in negative list). Petroleum
imports would also be allowed, it said.
As a goodwill gesture, New Delhi will support Islamabad
in WTO for European Union proposal to extend duty benefits to
Pakistani textiles, a concession given by EU on account of
floods in Pakistan.
"India will be constructive and supportive as and when
the WTO takes up this matter," Sharma said.
On Pakistani demand for allowing cross-border
investments, he said India would take an early decision.
"It is engaging our active and constructive attention at
the highest level and you can expect an early decision,"
Sharma said.
Doubling of bilateral trade would also be facilitated
through an MoU signed between the India Trade Promotion
Organisation and the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan.
The ministers also directed their Commerce Secretaries to
prepare roadmaps for greater preferential trading arrangements
between the countries.
"They agreed to further promote greater intra-regional
connectivity through road, rail, shipping and air," the
statement said.
They expected that the visa regime for businessmen would
be liberalised before November, when Commerce Secretaries of
the two countries meet again. They had earlier met in
Islamabad on April 27-28 this year.
The ministers expressed hope that the new business visa
regime would allow multiple entry and could be for upto one
year. "They emphasised that a more secure regional enviornment
would progressively help the visa arrangements for business
persons," it said.
There was an agreement that bilateral trade
liberalisation process should be uninterruptible and
irreversible, it added.