Pakistan set to restore trade ties with India

The Pakistan cabinet on Wednesday approved the resumption of trade ties with India, which is seen as a major move towards reviving the relations with India. Although there is no such official response from the Indian side on the matter, it remains to be seen what India’s stand would be, as so far, it has only shown flaccid interest in Pakistan’s proposal to resume trade ties with India, reports senior correspondent Chandrakala Choudhury.

New Delhi: Experts view that Pakistan’s move to resume trade ties is purely utilitarian and the nation needs it for the textile industry.

Commenting on the matter India’s former High Commissioner to Pakistan, G Parthasarathy said, “Pakistan’s move to resume trade ties with India is related to its production of textiles because they need it. I think it is purely utilitarian; Pakistan needs it for its textile industry. Let’s see whether there will be a very serious movement on trade or whether Pakistan is going to stick to their old policies. Nothing is moving forward till there are some talks. Most importantly, I would point out terrorism in Pakistan because terrorist organizations are still operating in Pakistan and no actions have been taken against it”.

The Pakistan cabinet on Wednesday approved the resumption of trade ties with India, which is seen as a major move towards reviving the relations with India. But not to forget, Pakistan had snapped ties with India ever since the nullification of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and the division of the erstwhile state into two new Union Territories in August 2019.

And now why this sudden overture of peace by Pakistan?, even though it continues to rake up Kashmir issue in different global foras, to which India has time and again lambasted Pakistan urging it to not interfere in the internal affairs of India.

"Let their first be an exchange of ambassadors. In its economic terms, this is just a desperate move by Pakistan for its textile industry. It is all about its economic need. They have done it for themselves because they needed it. It is a move primarily to bail out its textile industry”, Parthasarathy reiterated.

He said that it will take time to agree on a dialogue. “It is just a predictable step by Pakistan and the nation is not doing this out of charity but it needs it. And Pakistan is under huge pressure to resume ambassadorial level talk internationally”, he points out.

According to reports, Pakistan’s cabinet committee on economic affairs gave its nod to importing cotton from India till June 30, 2021, and approval for sugar imports is also expected soon.

Although there is no such official response from the Indian side on the matter, it remains to be seen what India’s stand would be, as so far, it has only shown flaccid interest in Pakistan’s proposal to resume trade ties with India.

Furthermore, Professor Harsh V Pant, Director, Research, ORF said, “Pakistan is signalling to India that it is keen to get its relations with India on an even keel now. Multiple pressures are facing Pakistan and the economy is the biggest problem facing the country. And the Imran government had been incapable of managing the issue. It seems that Pakistan has decided that resuming trade ties with India can be one of the measures to relax some pressure on their economy.

So far as the resumption of trade ties is concerned, it reflects the ground reality that Pak is facing an import bill which is getting higher day by day and they want to reduce that, so, therefore, is their outreach to India at this critical time".

He said that there will be no dramatic change in the relationship anytime soon and that the recent events are all tentative steps. “India will be very cautious given its experience with Pakistan, but in India, there seems to be a realization that there is no harm in ‘testing the waters when it comes to Pakistan because India will be engaging Pakistan from a position of its strength. The ball has been in Pakistan’s court and it is playing the ball in a certain manner. India will perhaps not be interested in anything dramatic and ‘trust but verify’ will be the mantra going further”, he added.

Over the last few months, subsequent events have taken place that shows a sign of easing of relations between the two of South Asia’s nuclear-armed neighbours- India and Pakistan. From the agreement between the DGMO’s of Pak and India to revive the 2003 cease-fire agreement along the LOC in Kashmir to the Indus water sharing talk between Indus Commissioner of India and Pakistan, meeting of the foreign leaders in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe, Pakistan has expressed high hopes of improvement in bilateral relations. However, despite the hype, there is a need for India to do a reality check.

India has welcomed the peace overture by Pakistan but many experts had suggested that India should make a cautious move when it comes to Pakistan as this attempt by Pakistan to talk peace can be another tactical ploy.

On Monday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan wrote a letter thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for conveying greetings on Pakistan Day and said that the people of Pakistan also desire peaceful, cooperative relations with all neighbours, including India.

“We are convinced that durable peace and stability in South Asia is contingent u[on resolving all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan, in particular, the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. Creation of an enabling environment is imperative for a constructive and result-oriented dialogue”, Khan wrote in the letter.

Earlier on Tuesday, speaking on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia Conference in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Pak Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that there was no meeting or pull aside with India’s External Affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar. India and Pakistan were participating in the two days long Heart of Asia Conference on Afghanistan in Dushanbe on March 30-31.

Qureshi further reiterated that Pakistan and India are heading towards a positive trajectory of ties in the aftermath of significant developments starting with the letter from Indian PM felicitating his counterpart on Pakistan Day, which was responded to by PM Imran Khan. He said, “Islamabad would never shy away from dialogue as we fully believe that it will be suicidal for the two neighbours to engage in any confrontation”.

Now it remains to be seen whether or not there will be any forward movement in ties between the two nations in reality.