Welcoming the MFN status for India in order to normalise trade between two countries Chairman All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) Mohsin Aziz said India should remove Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) to make MFN status a success.
He said that the federal cabinet, with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in the chair, has taken a right step in the right direction by granting the MFN status to India. However, he said the Indian political leadership should now remove NTBs against Pakistani products in India.
According to statistics, trade between the two countries was $1.4 billion in 2009-10. Of these, Indian exports to Pakistan stood at $1.2 billion, while Pakistan exports to India were a mere $268 million - a clear cut proof that India had not opened up its market for Pakistani goods, he said. The chairman Aptma said he had also informed Northern India Trade Mills Association (NITMA) delegation about it on their recent visit to Aptma.
According to him, despite the MFN status for India since 1996 still countless NTBs were in place against Pakistani goods in Indian market. On the contrary, there was hardly any NTB against the Indian goods in Pakistan even before MFN status was not granted to India.
He lamented that the attitude of Indian bureaucracy has been a challenge for the Indian leadership. Granting of MFN status to India is a test for the Indian leadership as how early it gets rid of NTBs against Pakistani goods, he added.
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