By Salman Ali
Pakistan and India’s governments desire for peaceful relations and resolution of outstanding disputes such as Kashmir, Indus Water, and others. Bumpy relations between the two countries can produce results if they develop stronger economic relations. If that happens, the trust deficit can be removed. Steps should be taken for better economic relations through expanding trade between the two countries. The volume of trade between them is very low in relation to the size of their economics.
According to one estimate, after independence, 70 percent of Pakistan’s trade transactions were made with India and 63 percent of India’s exports took place with Pakistan but this ratio came down drastically over the years.
Indo-Pak agreement on trading consists of only 1075 items which can be imported or exported between the two countries. The number of items has been increased in recent times but the agreement can be called as paper agreement as in reality nothing substantial has actually happened.
If Pakistan wants to improve economy it will have to start trading with India, its next door neighbour. A sizeable number of youth all over the country believes only trade between the two countries can resolve their outstanding issues.
Economic cooperation will definitely lead towards peaceful political relations. For that to happen, visa restrictions should be removed. Positive steps have been taken by the Aman ki Asha campaign in this regard.
Kashif Tabassum, an MBA student based in Lahore, and his father Idrees Tabassum, have a wholesale garment business in Anarkali. They believe trade relations are always good no matter how fragile diplomatic relation does a country has with its neighbour. “We must encourage regular trade but unfortunately, a lot of smuggling is taking place across the borders that are causing lots of revenue losses and destabilising market economy”, Kashif says adding, “There should be regular trade with India and there should be a balance of trade between the two countries so that it does not result in unnecessary outflow of foreign exchange from Pakistan.”
Shakoor Rana has been running an import and export business for the last about 15 years with India. He says, “About 80 percent of the Gross Regional Product income of South Asia is coming from India and we can say that it can be called as one of the biggest markets in the world. The economy of Pakistan can improve if we trade with each other. It is clear that regional stability is a foremost priority for India given its focus on achieving a 10 percent growth rate. Pakistan should benefit from this dynamic by expanding trade with India because mutual trade will improve the situation and will give a much-needed boost to our economy,” he says, adding, “The government of Pakistan is importing coal and iron ore for our steel mill from Australia and Brazil. We can import from India too which has a growing expertise in the industry and mostly it will reduce our cost in a big way.”
Tameem Bukhari, a student of Political Science at the Punjab University, says, “According to the 2004 State Bank study, trade between India and Pakistan can be increased from $1 billion to $5 billion if the entire trade between the two sides through illegal means is bought in the legal net but sadly, its not happening because passengers in Samjhota Express are into this illegal trade which bring goods with them and sell here.”
Sana Riaz, a student of Political Science at the Punjab University believes “Pakistan can come up to the potential where India has already excelled like in steel, pharmaceuticals, IT, consumer products and various raw materials. If Pakistan wants to trade with India then a proper agreement should be made. People to people relations should be made in which youth can go and study in Indian universities but it is not the case because of the visa process here.”
“Politicians and human rights activists only take selected people across the border which is not fair. Pakistan should first start trade with India and make our economy better then we can take up the issue of Kashmir otherwise it cannot be resolved” says Muhammad Shahbaz, a student of International Relations at the Punjab University.
The writer is a student [email protected]
