Sultan Ahmed Chawla, President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), has taken very serious notice of the recommendations contained in the report of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), demanding of New Delhi to react militarily to Pakistan and conduct surgical strikes against Pakistan, use water as tool to destroy Pakistan's agriculture, ban all imports and restrict travel between the two countries.
He said that at a time and age when resort to force is considered to be the least productive option, if FICCI advocates the use of force against its neighbours and demands action to destroy Pakistan, exposes its nefarious intention. He said that there is a huge potential of trade between the two neighbouring countries, and FPCCI and FICCI should work hand in hand and in harmony for promoting two-way trade and investment for further developing economic and commercial ties.
He asserted that the relations between India and Pakistan have always been governed by political interests rather than by economic interests. "That's why we have suffered huge economic losses over the years. Both apex Chambers should, therefore, cooperate and co-ordinate with each other for achieving a common task of economic prosperity. It is unfortunate that when the entire world is engaged in lobbying for resumption of talks between India and Pakistan through confidence building measures (CBMs), including free travel and trade initiatives, FICCI is publishing such an irresponsible and immature report," he said.
He said that Pakistan's approach on relations with India is clear and consistent. "We want to have friendly, co-operative, and good-neighbourly relations with India, based on the principles of peace, equality, and mutual respect. Pakistan favours promotion of trade and economic relations with India. The bilateral trade figure reached $1.98 billion in 2007-08. As part of efforts to facilitate bilateral trade, the two sides agreed on the modalities to allow cross border trade on trucks via Wagah border".
Chawla specified that that the two sides should, with tolerance and "by basing ourselves on the principle of equality and mutual respect", strive to increase mutual understanding, reduce differences, and expand consensus through dialogues and co-operation. "Antagonism cannot either increase understanding or narrow differences. We should realise that adherence to dialogue under an equal footing and opposition to power politics and antagonism are becoming a unanimous call from people of both the countries. No force on earth can hold back the development of this trend."-PR
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