It, indeed, is gratifying to learn from the joint statement, issued at the conclusion of two-day Secretary level talks on Economic and Trade Relations in New Delhi, that agreement was reached for expeditious processing of requests for opening bank branches, in each other's country in order to facilitate bilateral trade relations.
Coming as a follow-up of the decision made during Pakistan Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz's visit to India last November, it should inspire hope anew about the ongoing process of composite dialogue between the two countries. Pointing out that the discussions at Secretary level were held in a cordial and constructive atmosphere, the joint statement, recognising the scope for further increase in bilateral trade, gave the happy tidings of more pronounced progress to follow on a number of important issues, aimed at enhancing mutually beneficial economic and commercial co-operation.
Notably, the second meeting of the Joint Study Group would be convened soon in Islamabad, and it will be preceded by a meeting of the sub-groups on non-tariff barriers, and customs co-operation and trade facilitation, with a view to finalising recommendations.
As extensive discussions are stated to have been held in New Delhi on all the items on the agenda, focusing expansion of positive list and transit routes - air, shipping, road and rail - and financial services, along with insurance and banking, besides a roadmap for Joint Study Group, it will appear that the urgency of mutual understanding and economic co-operation has been duly recognised. Reference in this regard may also be made to decisions to hold aeronautical talks to review existing Air Services Agreement and to hold a meeting to jointly review the Shipping Protocol of 1975, also in September. It will, thus, be noted that come September, and both the countries will be concentrating more attention on making purposeful efforts for attainment of positive results in their bid for mutually gainful trade and economic co-operation.
Mention may also be made of the hope the meeting expressed at the New Delhi meeting that the fibre-optic link between Amritsar and Lahore will be established and put in operation at the earliest. Progress was made in concluding a Memorandum of Understanding between the Securities and Exchange Board of India and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, with a view to benefiting from each other's experiences.
All this, put together, will certainly point to the composite dialogue process getting back on the track with effective confidence building measures, notwithstanding the vent given off and on to politically motivated reservations, on both sides. This, of course, has reference to the first ever nuclear confidence building measures (CBMs), Pakistan and India arrived at by agreeing to notify each other of plans to test ballistic missiles, and also to establish a hotline between the concerned officials in order to prevent an accidental nuclear exchange. Soon, thereafter, they announced seven steps towards conventional CBMs, while also focusing resolution of humanitarian issues linked to the Kashmir issue. Viewed in this perspective, the Secretary level meeting between the two countries will certainly appear to have set the pace for uninterrupted pursuit of efforts in the desired direction.