Pak's turnaround on MFN: PM says status not granted to India

Yusuf

GUARDIAN
Super Mod
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
24,324
Likes
11,757
Country flag
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan government should consider granting India the 'Most Favoured Nation' status to exploit the huge trade potential as free trade relations with it will enable the country to achieve higher and more equitable GDP growth, an official panel has recommended.

The recommendation was made by the Panel of Economists, constituted by the Planning Commission, in its final report.

The report said as a first step, trade relations between the two countries should be normalised by trading on the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status.

As a second step, policymakers should address problems related to information exchange, trade facilitation, banking, non-tariff barriers, visas and communication.

The third step is to enable environment for investment has to be created so that India and Pakistan can enter into joint ventures, the Business Recorder daily reported today.

The panel asked the government to allow the import from India of raw materials not available locally.

"It is essential to move from a positive list approach to a negative list approach. It is important for the two countries to have a common Harmonised System of Codes and greater transparency," the panel's report said.

"The current DTRE scheme whereby quotas are fixed for raw material imports from India meant specifically for exports suffers from red-tapism and graft. A better solution is to open up raw material imports across the board," the report added.

The panel also recommended the opening the Attari-Wagah border to allow transportation of goods by road at the earliest as this link is already operational for movement of passengers and asked the government to consider allowing India-Pakistan joint ventures.

"Currently, there are no India-Pakistan joint ventures. As several Indian companies are showing interest in having joint ventures in Pakistan, it is important to understand the nature of such investments and provide timely facilitation," the report said.

The report noted that payments through formal channels assume a greater role as there is evidence of anonymous transactions between trading partners. Currently, the payments system is formalised through the Asian Clearing Union, which is inefficient as payments are often delayed.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...avoured-Nation-status/articleshow/5840793.cms
 

sob

Mod
Joined
May 4, 2009
Messages
6,425
Likes
3,805
Country flag
This is great news. But I do not see the establishment in Pakistan agreeing to this. Plus the local Industrialists in Pakistan will be opposing this as they feel that with the economies of scale the Indian Industry will swamp them.
 

Yusuf

GUARDIAN
Super Mod
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
24,324
Likes
11,757
Country flag
Not true, before India opened up its market, there was always talk of India being taken over the MNCs. Today the fact is that many Indian companies have become MNCs.
 

hit&run

United States of Hindu Empire
Mod
Joined
May 29, 2009
Messages
14,104
Likes
63,370
Not true, before India opened up its market, there was always talk of India being taken over the MNCs. Today the fact is that many Indian companies have become MNCs.
very right. same was said when India opened its doors for trade with china. No one remember sceptics but those who take initiative and try.
 

sob

Mod
Joined
May 4, 2009
Messages
6,425
Likes
3,805
Country flag
I completely agree with you, the same was said by Indian Industrialists before the economy was opened up. Rahul Bajaj was one of the main speakers against allowing foreign companies into India.

OTOH, there are many Industries like the Pakistan Steel mills, which has a very low capacity and virtually zero value addition, also the local Suzuki plant can be easily closed due to the same reason and Maruti can serve this market. We have to realise that India had a big domestic market for the Indian companies to build up capacities to counter the foreign companies, but unfortunately Pakistan does not have the market size to support such high volumes.
 

Singh

Phat Cat
Super Mod
Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
20,311
Likes
8,403
Country flag
Pakistan's biggest export is expected to be cotton/textile. India is reeling under shortage of cotton, Pakistan has excessive textile industries. If Pakistan bans export of cotton and allows export of textiles and India allows import of cotton but puts up barrier to import of textiles. Bye bye to trade.
 

sob

Mod
Joined
May 4, 2009
Messages
6,425
Likes
3,805
Country flag
Singh, Just like to inform to you that last year and the current year has seen bumper cotton production in India, while countries like Australia have had a very poor crop.The problem in India has been that the Govt. allowed Cotton export and this pushed up the cotton prices. In fact last year even Pakistani mills were found to be importing Indian Cotton. Pakistan does not really export cotton in a big way they source most of their cotton from CIS states.
Also the target market for Pakistani Textile industry is more on Home furnishings like Curtains,, bed sheets- coarser counts, while for India it is more of Garments, more finer counts.
 

Singh

Phat Cat
Super Mod
Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
20,311
Likes
8,403
Country flag
^^ Thanks for that bit of info. So its win-win for all ?
 

sob

Mod
Joined
May 4, 2009
Messages
6,425
Likes
3,805
Country flag
Yes definitely it is a win win for all with the balance in some form tilted in India' favor.
 

BangersAndMash

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2011
Messages
748
Likes
543
Pakistan to grant MFN status to India ... eventually

BHURBAN:
Pakistan has agreed to eventually grant most-favoured nation (MFN) status to India, making commitments and laying out a bilateral institutional framework designed to remove all hurdles to progress on that goal.

"The logical end of the trade talks would be to gradually grant India most favoured nation status," said Commerce Secretary Zafar Mahmood. "Pakistan recognised that granting MFN status to India would help in expanding bilateral trade relations and both sides agreed to remove non-tariff barriers and all other restrictive practices."

At the final day of the fifth round of bilateral trade talks between India and Pakistan, Islamabad agreed to abolish by October its 'positive list' of items that it allows India to export and replacing it with a 'negative' list of items that will be explicitly prohibited.

Currently, Pakistan has a list of 1,946 items that it allows imports of from India. Moving to a 'negative' list would prohibit a specific number of items and permit everything else, expanding the scope of trade with India. New Delhi already has a similar approach, with a 'sensitive' list of 850 items that it restricts trade in.

Both countries have also established a joint working group, with specific deadlines and goals to achieve a reduction in non-tariff barriers to trade – such as burdensome regulations, import quotas, etc – and eventually leading up to Pakistan granting MFN status to India.

Pakistan's historical complaint with India has been the excessive red tape that hinders a free flow of trade. For its part, the Indian delegation, led by Indian Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar, said that there are no non-tariff barriers to trade specific to Pakistan that they are aware of and that if Pakistani businessmen have any complaints, they should refer them to the joint working group on the matter.

Both sides were keen to delink trade talks from politics. The creation of the joint working group was cited as an indication of the institutionalisation of trade talks.

"This round was much more comprehensive and productive as both countries have created an institutional framework and a clear cut mechanism which will be irreversible," said Mahmood. He went on to say that trade talks, particularly MFN status for India, was never linked to the Kashmir dispute.

Both countries also expressed the intent to enter into a preferential trade agreement to further facilitate cross-border commercial exchanges. They also agreed to fast-track licensing for bank branches for each other's banks. However, both sides only issued a joint statement and did not move towards a formal agreement on the matter.

Pakistan has agreed to India's request to expand the scope of land trade with India and drop its current restrictions by October 2011, when a second gate will be opened on the Wagah-Attari border, including an integrated check-post. Customs officials from both sides also agreed to meet more frequently to resolve issued faced by traders.

The joint working group on non-tariff barriers will meet in September, as will another group of technical experts to explore the possibility of Pakistan importing electricity and petroleum products from India. Each of these groups has been created to reduce the level of mistrust between both sides.

Neither side, however, discussed the multilateral issues of trade that have occurred between the two countries. Pakistan was not willing to discuss India's trade with Afghanistan that passes through Pakistan whereas India was unwilling to discuss its opposition to trade concessions by the European Union to Pakistan.



Published in The Express Tribune, April 29th, 2011.



http://tribune.com.pk/story/158452/pakistan-refuses-mfn-status-to-india/
 

Rahul92

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2010
Messages
1,622
Likes
752
I still can't how can these pakistani's think that they can compete with Indian product's
 

Oracle

New Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2010
Messages
8,120
Likes
1,566
I still can't how can these pakistani's think that they can compete with Indian product's
You need a hold on your statements. Sufi songs, we export from Pakistan. When Sharad Pawar and hoarding company was igniting the prices of onions,potatoes and tomatoes, Pakistan did provide some relief.

Pakistan did help us. Yes!

Unfortunately, Foreign Policy is not decided by vendors and agriculturists and peaceniks. Foreign Policy is decided based on the opinions of the common masses.
 

The Messiah

Bow Before Me!
Senior Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2010
Messages
10,809
Likes
4,619
Pakistan needs revolution where corrupt terrorist snakes need to be kicked out and secular govt needs to be installed.

Till that happens there will be no peace with India because it is not in the interest of isi/army because it is this hatred that keeps them in power.
 
Joined
Feb 16, 2009
Messages
29,799
Likes
48,280
Country flag
Pakistan decides to give MFN status to India: Hina tells National Assembly

Pak agrees to grant India MFN status: Fehmida

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main50.asp?filename=Ws110711pak.asp

New Delhi—Dr Fehmida Mirza, Speaker National Assembly on Monday apprised her Indian counterpart that Pakistan has agreed to grant India the MFN status and hoped that both countries will share their experiences in various fields to meet the challenges by exploiting the untapped potential.

Dr Fehmida Mirza stressed the need for enhanced parliamentary interaction between Pakistan and India for building bridges of understanding and friendship between both the countries.

She was talking to Ms. Meira Kumar, Speaker Lok Sabha in a meeting held in Sansad Bhavan.

Referring to the ongoing dialogue process between the two countries, Dr. Fehmida Mirza reiterated that the recently held Secretaries' level meetings have yielded encouraging results. She said that dialogue is the only way forward in improving bilateral ties. She also emphasized that though terrorism and violence is a common threat to all of us. However, Pakistan has suffered the most as more than 30,000 of its Civilian population and 5000 personnel of Law enforcement agencies lost their lives as a result of terrorism.

Referring to the Mumbai incident, Dr Fehmida Mirza stressed that Pakistan too has its concerns on Samjhuhta Express incident. She believed that frequent parliamentary interactions will be helpful in addressing various issues between the two countries.

The Speaker National Assembly of Pakistan extended invitation to Meira Kumar, Speaker Lok Sabha to attend the 7th Women Speakers' Conference to be held in Pakistan 15-17 November, this year.

While welcoming Dr Fehmida Mirza, Meira Kumar, said relationships between Pakistan and India are not confined to politics and trade alone, rather, these are also based on emotional and cultural grounds.

She informed her Pakistani counterpart that India had also formed India-Pakistan Parliamentary Friendship Group following Pakistan's pattern. She was confident that interaction between parliamentarians of both the countries would yield results.

Later Speaker National Assembly also held separate meetings with Speakers of other SAARC countries including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

Dr Fehmida Mirza Monday chaired the fifth Conference of the SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians Association in New Delhi.

The theme of the Conference is "Sustainable Development in SAARC Countries – The way forward". Speakers from member countries continued to deliberate upon the theme during the session.

In her opening remarks, Dr. Fehmida, Speaker National Assembly underlined the role of parliaments and parliamentarians of SAARC Region to make the economic and social development sustainable so that common people in member countries of SAARC have access to basic amenities of life specially in health and education sectors. This will lay foundation for the long-term development of the region

Speaking during the session, Ms. Shahnaz Wazir Ali, MNA emphasized that "we in the SAARC region can share our successful experiences with each other that will ultimately make the lives of the masses better". She narrated a number of areas where Pakistan has successfully experimented various schemes for the welfare and betterment of its common people

Ms. Kashmala Tariq, MNA during her speech emphasized that sprit of cooperation was at the roots of formation of SAARC. "Member states, therefore, must uphold held this spirit at all levels".

The next Conference will be held in Islamabad next year. —Agencies
 

The Messiah

Bow Before Me!
Senior Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2010
Messages
10,809
Likes
4,619
She also emphasized that though terrorism and violence is a common threat to all of us. However, Pakistan has suffered the most as more than 30,000 of its Civilian population and 5000 personnel of Law enforcement agencies lost their lives as a result of terrorism.
Completely different situation...tarring it with the same brush is the height of ignorance.

1. Pakistan nurtures terrorists in the hope of using them to harm India.

2. The pak sponsored terrorists struck India and killed civilians. India is a victim and is right to be angered at pakistan and also right in labeling them terrorists.

3. Some of the terrorists turn and attack pakistan aswell. But this does not make pakistan a victim since no one but they themselves helped, nurtured and guided the terrorists. They are reaping what they sowed. Infact they are getting justice!

Its like a burglar claiming he's a victim when he gets beaten up whilst inside someone else property illegitimately.
 
Last edited:

Virendra

Ambassador
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
4,697
Likes
3,041
Country flag
They often blame CIA-Russian tussle for it. But nobody forced their hand to raise those snakes. If raising them then was justified for them, why were these guys active, armed and organized for decades even after the Russians had left? Why didn't they do squat about it until the explsions started right next to THEIR ear drums.
Anyways back to the topic. So what does this lead to? What can be realistically expected from this MFN status?

Regards,
Virendra
 
Last edited:

Galaxy

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2011
Messages
7,086
Likes
3,934
Country flag
Pakistan agrees to grant MFN status to India: Report

Pakistan agrees to grant MFN status to India: Report​

Pakistan has agreed to grant the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India, something which New Delhi had been demanding for many years, a media report said on Sunday. A senior official of the ministry of trade said on the condition of anonymity that the status of MFN would be granted during the current year, Urdu daily Jang reported.
Pakistan has in return asked for immediate lifting of non-tariff restrictions on its exports to India.

Sources said that trade and commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim would soon announce basic changes in Pakistan's trade policy.

One of the amendments will be a draft to review the list of trade items between the two countries.

According to the source, Pakistan has agreed to grant MFN status to India this very year in return for lifting the non-tariff restrictions on imports from Pakistan. This will fulfill the long-standing Indian demand in return for lifting of non-tariff restrictions alone.

The report comes ahead of a possible meeting between the commerce ministers of India and Pakistan after a gap of over three years in New Delhi next month to discuss ways to boost trade and proposals to remove non-tariff barriers as the two countries make efforts to normalise relations.

Indian commerce minister Anand Sharma has invited his Pakistani counterpart Fahim, a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan People's Party, to visit New Delhi for the meeting.

Pakistan agrees to grant MFN status to India: Report - Hindustan Times
 

Virendra

Ambassador
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
4,697
Likes
3,041
Country flag
Are we looking at a surge after the ever dipping trade volumes among India Pakistan since 26/11?
What should we expect from this, I'd like to have some cheaper mangoes if possible :D
Afghan pomegranate is also yearned for in India.
It would be a logistical advantage for both sides which otherwise take a lot of pain and operational overhead to get some imports from far off continents.

Regards,
Virendra
 
Last edited:

LurkerBaba

Super Mod
Joined
Jul 2, 2010
Messages
7,882
Likes
8,125
Country flag
It comes with a cost apparently..


'India supports for EU waiver on trade preferences to Pak'

Pakistan on Thursday claimed India had assured Islamabad that it would not make any further comment at the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) Council for Trade in Goods on the time-bound European Union (E.U.) waiver on trade preferences that was offered to Pakistan to help recover from last year's devastating floods.

Asked about India's continuing opposition to the E.U. waiver, Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua said the Indian leadership, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had assured Pakistan that it would refrain from comment at future WTO meetings on the issue.
Full article at: The Hindu : News / International : 'India supports for EU waiver on trade preferences to Pak'
 

johnee

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2009
Messages
3,473
Likes
499
This MFN status is a necissity of the pakis which they are desperately trying turn into a virtue. Their ravaged nation requires to do business with India.

However, supporting pakis on EU waiver, seems to be part of 'Aman ki Tamasha' of ManlyMohan Singh and his higher powers.
 

Latest Replies

Global Defence

New threads

Articles

Top