SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) has welcomed the recent meeting of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Ufa, Russia. The SAARC Chamber's leaders in a joint statement in Lahore termed the meeting a positive change in the perception of political leadership of both the countries.
Vice President SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Pakistan Chapter Iftikhar Ali Malik, former SAARC CCI presidents - Vikramjit Singh Sahney of India and Anis-ul-Haq of Bangladesh said that willingness expressed publicly by both the prime ministers to discuss the core issues was drastically required to make SAARC as an effective platform. They said the implementation of SAFTA in letter and spirit was based on the greater political will which had been demonstrated by the both prime ministers.