Pak minister says no plan to restore trade with India, suspended since 2019

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has once again highlighted that the trade relationship between Islamabad and New Delhi has remained suspended since 2019 after India raised its import duties on Pakistani goods.

The latest report from The Hindu reveals that Dar explained the situation in a written statement he submitted to the National Assembly of Pakistan, alluding to the fact that India slapped a 200 per centtariff on imports from Pakistan, stopped the Kashmir bus service, and suspended trade across the Line of Control after the Pulwama attack.

Dar’s remark was in response to Pakistan Peoples Party lawmaker Sharmila Faruqui, who had asked about trade problems with Pakistan’s neighbouring countries, particularly India.

When asked about their plans to re-establish trade relations with India, he replied that Pakistan’s business community is very interested in this but that 'at present there are no plans to restore relations which have been virtually non-existent since 2019’.

The suspension of trade came after the Indian Parliament on August 5, 2019, abolished Article 370, a move that Pakistan saw as giving no hope for talks between the two nations.

Dar re-emphasised Pakistan’s stand on seeking “engagement and meaningful dialogue” to address outstanding issues, especially the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.

He concluded that it is in New Delhi’s interest to create a favourable atmosphere for peace and reconciliation.

India, on the contrary, claims it wants only peaceful and neighbourly relations with Pakistan and reiterates that this can only be achieved if Pakistan stops creating hostility and terror.

Ties between the two nations have been tense for decades and are mostly defined by the conflict around Kashmir and Pakistani accusations of terrorism from India.

(With inputs from agencies)