The Pak-India Business Council (PIBC) on Wednesday termed the successful trade talks between Pakistan and India a way forward towards progress and prosperity of the two countries. The two-day commerce secretaries talks were held in New Delhi on November 14-15 in which the two countries agreed to further enhance bilateral trade ties besides expressing satisfaction over the progress being made to fully normalise the relationships.
"The talks will prove to be a milestone in developing friendly relations between the two nations besides enhancing trade and commerce relations," PIBC Chairman Noor Muhammad Kasuri told APP. Kasuri said that several positive decisions were taken during the talks and hailed the decision of constituting a committee to discuss ways and means for trade of petroleum products.
He said that the trade of petroleum products would help Pakistan save foreign exchange being spent on their import. Kasuri appreciated the United States for pursuing both India and Pakistan to normalise their relations, particularly trade ties. Kasuri said that the recent Federal Cabinet's decision for granting most-favoured nation (MFN) status to India would be beneficial for boosting bilateral trade between the neighbouring countries.
Kasuri also lauded the efforts of Federal Minister for Commerce Makhdoom Amin Fahim in bringing the two countries closer. His recent visit to India paved the way for enhancing trade between the two countries, he added. The PIBC Chairman also lauded the announcement of Pakistan Government to enhance the trade volume from $2 billion to $6 billion with India, which he said, would help them to overcome the problem of increasing inflation.
He said that Pakistan's initiative of granting MFN status to India and Indian initiative to support duty-free access of Pakistani products to European markets would increase their confidence in each other. He said that the growing trade relations between the two countries would help improve the life-standard of common people.