Gujral For Closer Trade Ties With Pak
Prime Minister I K Gujral has said it is time for Pakistan and India to open up more trade between them as otherwise only third countries will benefit from the present arrangement.
In an interview with Pakistans news agency News Network International (NNI), Gujral said that neither country had made sincere efforts in the past to expand trade ties. Who is a gainer in this? It is Dubai, Hong Kong and Shanghai, Gujral said while emphasising the need of liberalisation of trade between the two countries.
Free trade (between India and Pakistan) cannot be on the first of January 2001 (when SAFTA becomes operational)...one has to move in that direction to have more trade, Gujral said in the interview given to NNI editor-in-chief Hafiz Abdul Khaliq last week in New Delhi.
Pakistan has several economic advantages, we have some, so can benefit from each other by opening up more trade, he said.
Gujral said indirect trade between the two countries had trebled from Rs. 20 billion to Rs. 60 billion during the last three years. So, why not the direct...It will benefit both of us, Gujral said. He said that no buyer can force a seller; trade takes place where there is interest from both parties.
Talking about sector-wise trade, Gujral said, Pakistan got a huge gas (reserve). If it sets up petrochemical industry and (there) is surplus in fertiliser or any other petrochemical product, the Indian market is there to buy it. Replying to a question on whether Indian exports to Pakistan would destroy local industry, Gujral said it is not just a question of Indian goods selling in Pakistan but also Pakistani goods selling in India.
He noted that at present Pakistan is exporting certain goods to India including rock salt. Pakistani textile is superior to Indian and as a matter of fact Indian manufacturers are afraid that if this is opened up Indian textiles will suffer.
Gujral said that Pakistan had approached his government last year to sell surplus energy to India. But when we agreed, some people in Pakistan said Let Kashmir be settled first, Gujral said. He said Pakistan had invited huge foreign investment in the energy sector and now either you consume it or you waste it.
He said that last year when he was foreign minister in HD Deve Gowdas government, one of the foreign energy investors in Pakistan asked him to buy energy from them. I told him that Ill not deal directly, well deal through the Pakistan government as bilateral trade has its own laws, said Gujral.
Recalling his meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Edinburgh on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Summit last year, Gujral said, He (Sharif) himself raised the point (electricity). I said We are keen to buy. Let a group be set up on this issue to work out details. IANS
But Gujral said Pakistani bureaucrats interfered saying, No, let Kashmir be settled first. In such circumstances, what can I do? he asked.
Gujral said that in India there are two types of lobbies - protectionist and non-protectionist.
He said though some of political parties in India consider that liberalisation is not good, the overall impression is that some caution is definitely called for and every country is justified in having practising some caution. So is the case with Pakistan, he said.
We suggest Pakistan take some time to make up its mind (about bilateral trade with India), Gujral said. The whole Indian market is there to buy anything Pakistan considers it can manufacture more economically, he said.
Contradicting fears that the Indian market can destroy local markets in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, Gujral said that India has a favourable balance of trade with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He said his government had tried to adjust tariffs so that more Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan goods can be exported to India and that he is against loading tariff and non-tariff barriers in the bilateral trade with the neighbouring countries.
Gujral noted that Sri Lanka had surplus rubber and India is a highly good market for tyres. So why cannot we import rubber and sell tyres to Sri Lanka? he asked. Sri Lanka, he said, is also extremely good in crockery whereas Indian crockery is sub-standard and cannot compete with it.
Bangladesh has some advantage of gas. If they set up a petro-chemical industry there and manufacture fertiliser, India is a very big market of fertiliser. We buy from all over the world. It will be more economical for us to buy it from Bangladesh, he said.
Likewise Bangladesh leather is superior to Indian leather and Indian manufacturers are always asking not to open up the leather sector.
We have great demand for raw materials, great demand for rock salt, why cant we buy it from neighbouring countries? he asked.