M A I N   N E W S

Trade first, Kashmir later, India tells Pak
Rajeev Sharma and Gaurav Choudhury
Tribune News Service

Pakistani High Commissioner designate Aziz Ahmad Khan addresses a conference on "India-Pakistan trade: an agenda  for revival & growth,"  at FICCI in New Delhi on Monday. — PTI photo

New Delhi, July 7
India today sent an unambiguous diplomatic message to Pakistan when for the first time since Kargil its senior minister attended a meeting of India-Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The message was to resume bilateral trade even though political disputes remain; contrary to Pakistan’s stated policy of “Kashmir first, trade later”.

External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha today went far beyond inaugurating the third meeting of India-Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry and suggested the formation of a South Asian Union on the lines of the European Union.

A member of the Pakistani business delegation at the conference on Monday. — PTI photo

Two messages emanated from this move on the political and diplomatic planes. One, Mr Sinha accorded some kind of official sanctity to the 100-member plus trade delegation from Pakistan which some viewed as part of a Track II diplomatic effort.

This is important as the Ministry of External Affairs as well as the Pakistani High Commission here have surprisingly taken an official position that they have nothing to do with the business-to-business confabulations. Both sides have been advising reporters to contact FICCI for details about the meeting.

An equally significant fact is that since Kargil no Indian minister has been present on a Track II meeting.

The second message is more direct. Mr Sinha has told Islamabad that trade relations should not be kept hostage to political disputes. What he had in mind was the China example though he did not allude to China by name.

Till recently, India’s total trade with China was a meager $ 300 million. Presently, however, it is the range of $ 3 billion and target of $ 10 billion in near future.

This is despite the fact that India and China have been having boundary disputes for over four decades and the 4,500-km-long Line of Actual Control between India and China has never been demarcated as against a carefully delineated 740-km-long Line of Control between India and Pakistan.

At the same time Mr Sinha has assured that as economic history has shown smaller economies do not get swamped by larger bilateral trade partners.

“Let me assure you that we in India have no intention to overwhelm Pakistan’s economy through trade. Our aim is only to have a normal trade relationship, and promote trade in a manner that people of both countries benefit... My intention is not in any way to wish away or to underplay the differences that exist between us.... I believe that the time has come for us to reverse this trend and for economics to attain a dominant role in our bilateral interaction,” he said.

Pakistan, on its part, stressed on multi-lateral projects which it has been unsuccessfully pushing. Pakistan’s High Commissioner Designate in India, Mr Aziz Ahmed Khan, drew pointed attention towards mega economic projects like the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline.

India has voiced some serious reservations about this multi-billion dollar project which, if implemented, will give Pakistan $ 1 billion worth of transit fee per annum. 

India rejects Pak charge on mosque attack
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 7
India today denied Pakistan’s insinuation that New Delhi was behind last Friday’s terrorist attack on a Shia mosque in Quetta and said the charge was “absolutely baseless”.

The Ministry of External Affairs, responding to Pakistan Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali’s charge that Indian Consulates in Kandhar and Herat in Afghanistan and Zaidan in Iran were behind the attack, expressed surprise and disappointment over the charge.

“Pakistani leaders have unfortunately, on several occasions, referred to imaginary activities of our Consulates-General in Kandhar and Jalalabad. Motivated and completely inaccurate and baseless reports have appeared in the Pakistani media about the activities of non-existent local employees of our Consulates.

“Pakistan should abandon its old approach towards Afghanistan. The government and the people of Afghanistan, including those in Kandhar and Jalalabad, have widely welcomed the re-establishment of our Consulates-General and the trade and project-related cooperation that has been facilitated as a result,” the MEA said in a statement.

The statement added that the continuing sectarian violence in Pakistan pointed to the need for Pakistan to assess the internal cost to it of the policy of using terrorism as an instrument of state policy externally.

A spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said: “India is firmly and strongly against terrorism anywhere and we do not believe it is justified by any cause.”

Mr Jamali had yesterday said after his return from Quetta city that the mosque bombing could be a “fall out” of the new Indian Consulates in Kandhar, Herat and also Zaidan.

The spokesman pointed out that India had no history of any such involvement.

Meanwhile, in another development, the booking of tickets for Delhi-Lahore bus, which was to commence today, had to be deferred by a day after Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) failed to receive any official communication from the Central Government. 

Lahore ticket booking put off

New Delhi, July 7
The much-awaited booking of tickets for the Delhi-Lahore bus service resuming on July 11 was delayed today because of the non-completion of official formalities leaving many aspirants disappointed.

The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), which on Saturday announced that it would start issuing tickets from this afternoon, kept passengers waiting for hours before declaring that the bookings would open tomorrow.

Officials of the DTC present at the Ambedkar Bus Terminal said although it had received a green light from the Ministry of External Affairs to start bookings, “some formalities” were still to be sorted out and were expected to be completed by tomorrow morning.

“The MEA has given a green light but the Surface Transport Ministry has been approached for the completion of certain formalities,” a DTC official said.

“The visas did not specify the mode of travel between India and Pakistan which is a must,” an official said.

A ministry spokesman, meanwhile, said the government had received official communication on the resumption of the service from July 11.

The service, tipped to be the cheaper mode of transport between the two countries and launched with much fanfare on in 1999, was snapped in 2001. — PTI