According to Pakistani media, Islamabad will open trade routes with India due of floods and food price hike
o According to reports by Pakistani media, Islamabad has said that they will reopen trade routes with India because of the local floods and food price hike.
o Pakistan is set to resume trade routes with India, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail informed on Monday.
According to reports by Pakistani media, Islamabad has said that they will reopen trade routes with India because of the local floods and food price hike. Pakistan is set to resume trade routes with India, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail informed on Monday.
According to a report by Pakistani media, Islamabad said that they will open trade routes with India because of floods and food price hike. Pakistan is set to resume the trade route with India, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail stated on Monday.
Pakistan’s Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said that the government is considering importing vegetables and other food items from India following the destruction of crops due to massive floods, 3 years after Islamabad downgraded trade ties with New Delhi over Kashmir.
Pakistan is witnessing a massive surge in the prices of vegetables and fruits due to floods as the supply of vegetables from Balochistan, Sindh and south Punjab has been badly affected due to the disaster.
Addressing a press conference, the Finance Minister said that the government may consider “importing vegetables and other food items from India” to facilitate rations after floods destroyed crops across the country. He stated this in response to a question.
Pakistan downgraded trade relations with India in August 2019 after India’s decision to revoke Article 370 that granted a special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Citing sources, Dawn newspaper reported that former security adviser Moeed Yousuf was working on proposals regarding trade with India.
On record, former commerce adviser Razak Dawood also spoke on several occasions for the resumption of trade with India, the paper said. In March 2021, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) announced that it would allow the private sector to import sugar and cotton from India via the Wagah border.
However, the decision was reversed within days after drawing flak from the main opposition parties Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan People’s Party, which are now in a coalition government.
With a change in federal government this year, the Ministry of Commerce ruled out the possibility of a resumption of bilateral trade in May. The response came from the Commerce Ministry over widespread speculation that the government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was considering proposals to resume trade with India.
“There is no change in Pakistan’s policy on trade with India,” an official from the commerce ministry announced. However, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in June advocated the case for trade and engagement with fellow countries, especially India.
According to Lahore Market Committee, Secretary Shehzad Cheema, containers of tomato and onion are being received at Torkham border daily, out of which, two containers of tomato and one of onion is being brought to Lahore city on a daily basis and the number of containers is too short to meet the demand in the provincial capital of Punjab. Cheema said that the government would eventually import onion and tomato from India.
He said import of vegetables from Iran via Taftan border was not viable as the Iranian government had increased taxes on imports and exports. He said that the prices of date palm and banana would also go up as most of the orchards in Sindh had been destroyed by the floods.
Apple from Balochistan and other areas had also been stopped due to flooding. Jawaad Rizvi, a wholesale dealer, said on Sunday that per kilogram of tomato and onion were available in Lahore’s markets at around Rs 500 and Rs 400.
He said that in the coming days the prices of commodities will increase as the supply of vegetables from Balochistan, Sindh and south Punjab has been affected because of floods. According to officials, floods have claimed over 1,100 lives so far.
