The Interna-tional Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that trade between India and Pakistan is expected to accelerate after the grant of most favoured nation (MFN) status to India by Pakistan.
IMF in its recent report titled "India's Growth Spillovers to South Asia" states: "While in the past political differences hindered the development of formal economic links between Pakistan and India, it is widely believed that unofficial trade between the two countries is sizeable. Trade between the two largest economies in the region is expected to accelerate going forward, given that Pakistan recently granted MFN status to India".
Many South Asian countries share a common history and culture, and until 1947 the three largest India, Pakistan and Bangladesh had a common market with integrated monetary and communication systems. The report says that the India's formal trade with Pakistan is less than 10 percent of their estimated informal trade of two billion dollars.