Trade with India
An intense debate is going on within Pakistan, orchestrated mainly by government and trade circles about conferring the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India in reciprocation in the implementing of the new World Trade Organisation (WTO) Accord which has replaced GATT. Pakistan reached an Accord last December (1995) with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Trade Agreement (SAPTA) identifying 226 items for preferential treatment in import trade between the member countries. Customs notification giving India preference in 106 items and Pakistan in 35 items have been issued. Along with business colleagues throughout the country, the Federal Commerce Minister, Choudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, is campaigning for full scale trade with India, the commercial-minded see only pots of gold at the end of this rainbow in utter disregard of any other considerations.
Pakistan Steel is presently importing iron ore from Goa and the emergency import of 200000 MT sugar by TCP is likely to be repeated. The greatest advocate of a strong two-way trade with India is the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) whose members look with some anticipation at the cheap machinery in place of the expensive machinery presently being obtained from western sources. It is believed that all the five committees sanctioned by the Government of Pakistan (GoP) to examine the opening of full scale trade with India have recommended an early resumption of such trade.
