Pakistan not adhering to MFN status timelines on trade, says Commerce Minister

Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Commerce and Industry Ministry Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said Pakistan is not adhering to timelines related to the granting of MFN status on items of bilateral trade with India since the conclusion of the seventh round of talks on commercial and economic cooperation between the two countries in September 2012.

In a written reply tabled in the Lok Sabha today, Sitharaman said bilateral trade between India and Pakistan has dipped considerably in monetary value since fiscal 2011-12.

In September 2012, she said, that it was, inter-alia, agreed that Pakistan would transition fully to MFN (non-discriminatory) status for India by December, 2012.

Pakistan did not adhere to the timelines.

Sitharaman said that commerce ministers of India and Pakistan met on January 18, 2014 on the sidelines of the 5th SAARC Business Leaders Conclave in New Delhi.

Both mMinisters, she said, then reaffirmed the commitment of their governments to expeditiously establish normal trading relations.

"In this context Pakistan was asked to provide Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) to India. In the meeting between Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan on 27th May 2014, it was stated that the two countries could move immediately towards full trade normalization on the basis of the September 2012 roadmap worked out between the commerce secretaries of both countries. Progress in trade normalization would depend on the decision taken by Pakistan with regard to granting MFN Status to India," Sitharaman said.

Presenting figures, the minister said that exports from India to Pakistan have gone up in terms of dollar value from 1541.56 million dollars in 2011-2012 to USD 2274.26 million dollars in 2013-14.

Contrastingly, imports from Pakistan indicated a marginal increase from 397.66 million dollars in 2011-12 to 426.88 million dollars in 2013-14.