thakur_ritesh
Ambassador
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- Feb 19, 2009
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If I am not mistaken India is already getting transit rights to Afghanistan, though it is being kept under wraps for now, of course is happening with the approval of the Pak Army and so even the hawks in Pakistan are sleeping over it. The real deal is the transit rights to CAR and Pakistan in return gets transit rights to ASEAN, our whole energy policy could see a sea change if we get a reliable route to this region.India by all means want MFN status from PAkistan
so that they could export to afghanistan through Pakistan.
and easy access for RAW
Post MFN, the eyes are set on FTA and then CEPA of course a lot it will be pushed through the SAFTA. I think if Imran gets to form the next government, these agreements becoming a reality stand a very real chance. Actually if one reads the text of the recently signed trade agreement, in which significant concessions will be made over a period of time, those are easily by passing the T&C for even a FTA, so SAFTA helps hide the scrutiny by the hawks.
What India is attempting is to try and turn the focus away from all issues, and bring it to trade, and rest of the issues will be add ons, with a little give and take here and there, and no more. The idea for long has been to create mutually beneficial dependencies so that the two don't run for a war at the first terror attack that happens and some business men very close to the Pak Army have significant interest in having strong trade relations with India, who have played significant part in pushing this deal, and also moulding the opinion of the Pak Army generals who have generally been anti-trade agreements with India till the time the Kashmir issue gets settled which by now has become a non-issue pretty much so. There is just a passing reference made these days, no more.i don't understand, indians are always telling us that we are going to get "bitten" by pakistanis in return for supporting them.
however, it is indians who are giving them liberalized visa regime, while we did not add them to our free-stay visa list.
how does this logic work?
With liberalised visa regime, they want to ease the flow of the business community, which in turn should significantly increase the trade. The visa-on-arrival at least for now should be no more than a publicity stunt. Going across the borders should still be full of hassles as has been the case for long. At least for now, not many Indians would be crossing the borders because a Pakistani stamped passport actually lands you in trouble and it is near impossible to then get a visa for most of the world, the questioning by these embassies is endless.
It will only be the business community that will really stand to benefit the most.