NEW DELHI, 15 September 2003 — Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha yesterday called for promoting trade between India and Pakistan without allowing political differences between the two nations to hamper it.
“Economic cooperation should not be held hostage to political differences,” Sinha said in his address to the India-Pakistan Chief Executive Officers Business Forum in New Delhi.
This was possible as there were several examples of increasing bilateral trade ties between the countries despite political differences, he said.
Sinha said India would remove restrictions, if any, on trade ties with Pakistan.
“Let me declare in unambiguous terms that if there are any Pakistan specific restrictions, the government of India will strive for their removal,” Sinha said.
Sinha said while the official trade between the two countries stood at between $200 million and $250 million, transactions through third countries was at about two billion dollars.
Noting that despite political differences India had continued to extend most favored nation treatment to Pakistan, Sinha said “naturally, it is our hope that Pakistan will also sooner, rather than later, give India the MFN treatment and remove all non-tariff barriers”.
In his address to the forum, Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan said differences over Kashmir between New Delhi and Islamabad were responsible for the poor state of cooperation and relations between the two countries.
He said India and Pakistan should move at a faster pace at official level to engage in a “comprehensive, composite and result-oriented dialogue covering all aspects of bilateral ties so as to turn the chapter of acrimony and confrontation to one of peace and amity”.
In a interview published in the Hindustan Times newspaper yesterday, Sinha ruled out any dialogue with Pakistan until Islamabad stopped supporting insurgency in Kashmir.
He said there has been no concrete change in Pakistan’s support to secessionist militants in Indian Kashmir.
“There is no change in the ground level situation. Pakistan continues to give support to terrorism, the infiltration continues, the infrastructure remains intact,” the minister said.
“Our position remains clear and consistent that there is no question of a dialogue till Pakistan stops terrorism,” Sinha said.
Ruling out any contact with the Pakistani leadership during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly session in New York, the minister said: “Whether in New York or Timbuktu, Islamabad or New Delhi, no bilateral dialogue is possible until Pakistan stops cross-border terrorism.”
