New Attari post to treble India-Pak trade
Integrated system to open tomorrow, study senses boost in annual trade from $2.6 billion to $8 billion in two years
The opening of an integrated check-post (ICP) at Attari border off Amritsar in Punjab, slated for this Friday, is likely to raise the annual volume of trade between India and Pakistan to $8 billion from the present $2.6 billion in the next two yeas, according to a study.
A major reason for the optimism is Islamabad’s recent granting of an MFN (most favoured nation) status to its eastern neighbour, says the report released by Assocham.
The trial run of cargo movement has already started; it began on Monday. Union home minister P Chidambaram will inaugurate on April 13 the Rs 150-crore project spread over 120 acres.
One the ICP starts functioning, the adjoining infrastructure will enable ten times the number of trucks to pass conveniently. At present, 100 to 150 trucks cross over to Pakistan daily.
With dedicated passenger and cargo terminals, apart from adequate customs and immigration facilities, traders are hopeful that the ICP would boost bilateral trade many times. For, the time permitted for cargo movement between the two countries will from this Friday become 12 hours daily — between 7 am and 7 pm — instead of what is eight hours now.
Four-and-a-half years ago, India-Pakistan trade did get a shot in the arm when permission was given for cross-border movement of trucks. October 1, 2007, thus became a milestone in the bilateral relations of the two countries over their 60 years of independent existence. Earlier, the goods used to exported through porters, who would exchange their loads on the Radcliff Line — the post-Partition border demarcation. With a new ICP poised to be in place, there would be a spurt in the economic activity between the two nations, resulting in the generation of huge revenue and employment. Further, analysts speak of a “tremendous scope” for increasing manifold the trade in those few designated items that had been permitted for trade through trucks. These would include sport goods, light engineering hand tools, machine tools, hosiery and processed food products from Punjab. Inversely, more fine staple cotton would be imported from Pakistan as there is an assured demand for it in the Indian market.
Though traders dealing with import and export to and from Pakistan are upbeat about the ICP project, they want the governments of both the countries to give a further push to the proceedings so as to boost business. What has come as a dampener for traders is a continued ban by the Pakistan government on free trade of items from the Attari-Wagah land route, despite it being the cheapest and shortest trade route, according to PHDCCI.
Last month, Pakistan had notified its negative list for New Delhi. This meant that India can, barring 1,209 items, now export all products to the neighbouring country. However, Islamabad has allowed import of only 137 items through the Wagah land route, instead of the nearly 2,000 items that were allowed earlier under the positive list.
Traders have claimed that out of the 137 items permitted, a majority are already exported to Pakistan through Wagah land crossing. The item includes livestock, carcasses, meat, vegetables, pineapple, pepper, newsprint, cement and yarn. “People-to-people contacts through a relaxed visa policy are very important,” notes Rajiv Bali, chairman (Punjab Committee) of the PHD chamber. “India and Pakistan need to finalise a new visa agreement soon to boost business ties between the two countries through frequent exchange of delegations at different levels.”
The visa issue has been one of the biggest impediments to bilateral trade talks, he maintains, adding that the new agreement will remove it.