Islamabad Pakistan will normalise trade ties with India by the end of the year by phasing out a "negative list" that bars transactions on 1,209 items, the federal cabinet decided Wednesday.
Pakistan Information Minister Ashiq Firdous Awan announced the decision taken by a cabinet meeting chaired by Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
The cabinet "unanimously approved" the gradual elimination of the negative list, the minister said, dispelling reports that there was division on the issue in the government.
The process of trade normalisation between the two countries will be completed with the phasing out of the negative list, she said.
Awan said the commerce minister assured the cabinet that trade normalisation with India was in the best interests of Pakistan and that the local industry would not suffer.
Unfair competition
She said the cabinet was informed that national tariff, anti-dumping and countervailing laws would help prevent any unfair competition for the local industry. Responding to a question, Awan rejected apprehensions in some circles that liberalisation of trade with India would undermine Pakistan's stand on the Kashmir dispute.
It was a wrong perception, Awan said, asserting that enhanced trade would in no way "compromise our position on Kashmir".
The Islamic parties in Pakistan strongly oppose expansion of trade with India until the decades-old Kashmir dispute is resolved.
They reject the view that trade would strengthen the peace lobby in both countries and create an helpful environment for settlement of disputes.
During the recent visit of Indian commerce minister Anand Sharma to Islamabad the neighbours signed three agreements for opening more land trade routes between them, facilitating customs cooperation and setting up bank branches.
