India is in touch with Pakistan on the issue of opening road route for trans-shipment of goods to Afghanistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Thursday. Nothing has been finalised as yet but the issue of a normal transit route through Pakistan as part of improvement in trade relations between both the countries, and getting the status of Most Favoured Nation (MFN) for India were certainly on the agenda of talks, Manmohan told Rajya Sabha during Question Hour.
In response to a query, Dr Manmohan Singh said the issue of trans-shipment of goods and material to Afghanistan via Pakistan had been discussed with Islamabad.
He further said New Delhi had urged Islamabad to extend MFN status for India to improve economic relations but no conclusion had so far been reached.
"We have impressed upon Pakistan that normalisation of economic relations between the two countries must include extending MFN status to India," maintained the Prime Minister.
Earlier, responding to a query of carrying out repairs and renovation of buildings in Afghanistan, Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahmed told the House that work was on for construction of a road to enable movement of goods from India to Afghanistan via Iran, adding: "We are looking for shortcut routes."
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