Agencies/Islamabad
Pakistan Commerce Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan has said the country would continue to trade with India despite border tensions.
The minister said on Friday that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government is committed to increasing regional trade as part of promoting peace without compromising on national sovereignty, Dawn online reported.
“The vision of our government is that we must trade with our neighbours,” he added.
Speaking at a consultative meeting, ‘Trade with Neighbours: Prospects and Challenges’, organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, the minister said that the country’s current tension with India is casting a shadow on economic ties.
He said that Pakistan would have to trade in electricity from India to overcome the energy crisis. The minister admitted that extraordinary concessions were given to neighbours for trade facilitation.
“We have been trying to finalise our projects with Iran as well,” said the minister
Pakistan is also purchasing electricity from Iran.
State Minister for Privatisation, Mohammad Zubair, supported the notion of opening the border for trade with India.
“Pakistan should trade with India for better standard of living of its own people,” he said.
“If we want to develop, we should contribute. It is not about India’s domination over us, we absolutely want good relations with India,” the minister said.
The privatisation minister said that it was time to start with a bold decision.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has said it won’t allow India to build bunkers along the Jammu and Kashmir border in violation of a bilateral pact.
The foreign office also accused the Indian armed forces of targeting the civilian population in Pakistan-held Kashmir, Geo TV reported.
Ministry spokesman Tasnim Aslam said Pakistan had highlighted the issue of “unprovoked Indian firing” at the United Nations and other fora.
She said that according to an agreement on the “working boundary” in Jammu and Kashmir, India and Pakistan cannot carry out any construction within 500 meters of the border.
She said India was trying to construct new bunkers “which Pakistan will not allow”.
Khurram Dastagir Khan
