MFN status to India: speakers for taking all stakeholders on board

Speakers at a day-long national conference on granting MFN-status to India, have called for the complying binding principles or laws under agreement of World Trade Organisation (WTO) to deter expansionist designs of neighbouring India through the facility in the region and stressed the need for taking all stakeholders on board to finalisation negative list of importing products following the MFN status to India.
The seminar on titled "Granting Most-Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India, its cost and benefits for Pakistan" held under the auspices of Department of Political Sciences, University of Peshawar in collaboration with Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Wednesday. The University Vice Chancellor, Dr Azmat Hayat Khan chaired the opening session.
Notable speakers included, Dr Naeem-ur-Rehman Khattak, Dean faculty of Social Sciences, Dr A Z Hilali, Chairman Department of Political Sciences, University of Peshawar, Dr Jahan Manan, Faculty of Management Sciences, Institute of Management Sciences, Qadar Baksh Baloch, Ghulam Sarwar Muhmand, a renowned industrial, Dr Zalakat Khan, Department of Economic, University of Peshawar, Hassan Ara Magsi, Department of Political Sciences, University of Balochistan and members of the business community.
Dr A Z Hilali in his opening remarks said that the granting of MFN status to neighbouring India have rare benefits, but in long term has much implications on the economic situation and industrial growth of the country. There was utmost need to reciprocal analyse the entire aspects of MFN status to India, to retain viability of industrial and economic condition in the country, he maintained. He expressed fear that if the direct trade with India would harm national productivity consequently downgrades already poor socio-economic status.
The University Vice Chancellor, Dr Azmat Hayat Khan, and Dr Naeem-ur-Rehman Khattak, in their welcoming address emphasised that the government would protect local industry while granting MFN status to India. All the stakeholders, including industrialists, economists, and trading community analyse the entire trade agreement with India on reciprocal basis, he suggested.
Dr Jahan Manan, from IMS, while addressing on the occasion, said that the granting of MFN status to India is to inter-economic dependency, saying that the trade agreement should be based on bilateral under equal privileges and rights. He said that the MFN status has beneficial for Pakistan to boost up its trade relations with neighbouring states.
Ghulam Sarwar Muhmand stressed the need for protecting local industry, adding that the neighbouring India aims to get access to Central Asian Republic (CAR) states via Afghanistan. He added that step was attempted to hamper the ongoing process of strategic dialogue between Pakistan and India regarding resolution of core issue of Kashmir. He informed that the trade relation between two neighbouring states nearly $2 billion, whereas the illegal trade is going through Afghanistan border area around $13 billion, which was the biggest dilemma and hindering the industrial growth in the country.
Dr Zalakat Khan, in his presentation on legal aspect of MFN, said that the WTO agreement has enabled Pakistan as signatory of the accord, to put restrict of any importing products from India. He called for following binding law and international obligations under the WTO to deter expansionist design of the India.
Hassan Ara Magsi, from Balochistan University, said that the government took decision regarding MFN in very hasty, saying that owing to industrial imbalance, rising cost of production, and high tariff rate are major cause for in-competitiveness with neighbouring India.
Qadar Baksh Baloch, said that the widening imbalance of trade relations between both India and Pakistan, high agricultural related commodities, cost of production and raw material prices, have much implications of granting of MFN status. Other speakers also stressed for analysing MFN facility on reciprocal basis by taking all stakeholders on board.