Pakistan weighing MFN status for India

"Despite the fact that we have not granted MFN status to India, the balance of trade is tilted in favour of India. We want healthy and a reasonable balance of trade. We are studying the Indian tariff regime and non-tariff barriers. We will consider granting the MFN status only once this exercise is over," Pakistan Commerce Minister Humayun Akthar Khan told Business Standard in a telephonic interview.

Asked if Pakistan had identified any specific non-tariff barriers imposed by India, Khan said, "We have conducted studies and have interacted with people who export to India. There are tariff complexities and non-tariff barriers. We took up the matter during the first meeting of the joint study group in February. We will now identify the specific non-tariff barriers and raise them at the June joint study group meeting in Islamabad."

Khan said Pakistan was encouraged by the fact that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured President Pervez Mus-harraf that New Delhi would address the issue of tariff complexities and non-tariff barriers.

He said the bilateral trade on the ground was gradually improving. He, however, reiterated that trade could only be a part of the composite dialogue process between the two countries. "A number of confidence building measures have been announced yesterday. We are definitely moving ahead (on trade), slowly and steadily," the commerce minister said.

Khan said though the joint business councils existed in the two countries, those were primarily the initiative of the private sector. "These efforts will now have the government encouragement," he said.

Asked if Pakistan would work more closely with India at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), he said, "At the multi-lateral level both India and Pakistan are members of the G-20. We will continue to cooperate and in areas of identical interest."

Khan said while on agriculture both the countries had offensive positions with regard to elimination of subsidies, substantial reduction in domestic support and increased market access, there was a likelihood of developing identical positions in other areas like services and non-agricultural market access.