Trade, can it Herald Peace?

When I read this article, for some odd reasons I felt the author is under too much influence of media and especially Indian media, nevertheless I will try and hint at the real factors which restricted Pakistan to grant India MFN status.

But prior to that, I would request the readers of any media to please do their own research before getting ``influenced`` by the media as it is - though I still doubt many would as the world is under influence at this moment in time....

Few days back I was reading an article in Australia on the same topic by an Indian author. He made a point that it is lack of proper word translation of MFN in Pakistani language Urdu, which has created problem of not granting MFN status to India by Pakistan...it was amazing how this type of logic is accepted by media and allowed to get printed. On top of it now I am reading through this article that Manpreet Singh Gill, a graduate of Delhi School of Economics, cites conflicts of interests as the main reason, and that the army is powerful, and lots of other big problems exist in Pakistan. Conflict with India is something the army needs to justify its own existence, and something the government (whether civilian or army) can use to divert attention from domestic problems...again a time-tested practice”.... Both of the logics - driven by journilist or the graduate scholar from the School of Economics in India are talking out of ignorance, at least in this matter, which is resulting in nothing but ignorance.

Let me give you a glimpse of the truth behind not giving India MFN status... Out of many facts, I would place just 2 here for the readers, the rest can find in the report in WTO library, I being part of the team have limitations to reveal all.


1. Granting MFN status to India was not fair for Pakistani industry and highly favourable to Indian industry. MFN implies that you extend the same trading mechanism to the new trading country, which you are extending to other existing trading partner countries. Thus if country A is manufacturing 4 items and country B manufacturing 3 items both should be allowed to export freely to each other market. However, if country A tell country B that you can only sell me 1 item as other 2 items are on restricted list as per country A economic policy, country B will be at disadvantage and it would not be fair trade..

This was exactly the scenario between Pakistan and India. Problem was that Pakistani economy was an open economy as compared to the Indian economy, and had little restricted list as compared to Indian restricted import list items. Thus what import restrictions had been placed by the Indians to other countries for items such as automobiles and air-conditioning, those restriction were to be exercised on Pakistan as well, thus restricting Pakistani exports to India; India for sure was happy with that and conferred MFN status on Pakistan. On the contrary Pakistan being an open economy had no such restrictions, thus would have left its market open for Indian manufacturers to export to Pakistan whatever they were manufacturing. The Pakistani government was not happy as it would open its doors in full for Indian exports and still unable to get for its own exporters the Indian Market due to Indian policies of restricted imports - naturally, the government was reluctant to grant India MFN status.

Pressure was still there from some of the manufacturers in Pakistan that were of the view that Pakistan can benefit more as they will be exposed to a larger market as compared to Indian exporters, however in this case the gains would have been highly skewed in favour of large manufactures, and the small scale would have confronted a shut down situation in Pakistan. Medium scale manufacturers, in Pakistan, were nevertheless also eager to open trade as well but with one condition that there be a level Playing field; being an open economy Pakistani products were superior to Indian products as they had to compete with international products as compared to India where manufacturers were shielded behind import restriction, was the opinion of these manufacturers (an air-conditioning manufacturer informed that his product is being sold 2.5 times the price in Pakistan in black market of India!).

2) Cost of Inputs: Indian government was heavily subsidizing its industrial electricity as compared to Pakistan that was competitive like Western countries. The average per unit comparative cost of electricity unit in India at the time of study was less than a rupee, whereas in Pakistan it was close to six rupees, thus denying the level playing field to the two countries manufacturers!

...I think I should stop here with the message that yes any thing whether its trade, sports, negotiation - all is nice if it is fair

Regarding illegal trade, it would have been balanced approach, if the author had mentioned the export of sugar, wheat, rice, plastic products in exchange of Paan, liquor, etc from India, or Pakistani rice being exported as Indian rice from the ports of Dubai...

harimau -- both are pretty bad

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Ref omar_r_quraishi #131

[if you havent noticed with chowk, the article could be something as apolitical as a concert review and nine times out of ten it will descend into a pakistan vs. india thing -- ]

Daler Mehndi is better than Junoon.

india and pakistan can never coexist peacefully and that is the sad truth.It is imperative that the two nations do not engage each other and continue to lead their individual destinies as circumstances arise.I`m from the southern part of india and north india is as alien to me as pakistan or bangladesh is and i had an open mind where pakistan is concerned.But having interacted with pakistanis not only in person but also through various interactive forums, i have to say nothing good will become anyone or entity that tries to engage in any meaningful dialog with pakistan or pakistanis.My north indian brothers might have sentimental attachments towards pakistan but indians in the south don`t and therefore if objective people can be put off by any kind of interaction with pakistan then why should india even bother to engage in any kind of dialog ...remember the maxim ``let sleeping dogs lie``.....

aman -- thanks for stepping in -- btw if you havent noticed with chowk, the article could be something as apolitical as a concert review and nine times out of ten it will descend into a pakistan vs. india thing --

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my message #128 was to RanaJee specifically...

the ugly schocking face of pakistan has already been displayed for the whole world to see..your country is the pariah of the muslim world,tolerated by the arabs as long as you were willing to do their dirty work(terrorism) for them and now beholden to the americans for your basic survival after getting caught...the ``shining`` face of india was displayed for all last week when we once again exercised our constitutional right...show me a nation where the head of state and head of government are from the minority communities....and, you sure you the son of your biological father, `cause there are way too many arabs and americans traipsing across your land....just checking, since you asked me...

#119 by niranjan & # 120 by arjun_m
Listen, if I start showing you the ugly/shocking face of India, if you are son of your own biological father you will never dare to write against Pakistan on these petty issues like Dust, Beggars, Taxi Drivers or day dreaming to create BD etc. and better try to analyze why India retreated its troops from Pakistan border last year.

I am in favor of fair trade with India and I have practically tried to do business with India. I told you the reason for my product not being exported to India was its high price. I did not contempt India and open heartedly accepted the non-competitiveness of my product in Indian Market.

But it looks I unintentionally put my foot on your tail (in your front side).

I am still in contact with Indian Importers and may get a chance to enter Indian market, but the way you are behaving you will never be able to persuade anyone in Pakistan.

agree..however, it is impossible to engage in any meaningful dialog with pakistanis who always seem to have a chip on their shoulder ,especially when it comes down to bilateral issues.India is the biggest nation in this region, is a big player in the international world and should be given its due.At the same time, india should try to accomodate pakistani concerns while engaging in a meaningful dialog on trade.The day the paki acknowledges the desi and vice-versa without bringing out the negatives before the positives ,will be the beginning of a meaningful relationship between the two nations.

hi all,
through this piece my intention was to initiate a meaningful debate... however i find that the debate has largely been acrimonious...please do debate but do so in a civilised manner
aman malik
author of the article

#115 -- asfand man, forget it, you`re talking to a bunch of mostly sorry-ass losers (paki-bashers) on this board -- they will misinterpret and misread everything you say --

#121 ...dude..what are ye tripping on man??..gimme some...the world has gone crazy...why are we indians even discussing trade with pakistan....i wish all ye pakis would get over this ``muslim`` thingy man...it is a religion , one of the many means to go to ``heaven`` etc. etc., but let it be just that man,...who cares whether muslim library books fell into the hands of the magna carta people...the magna carta people beat the asses out of the allah-o-akbar people and sent them packing to africa...simple as that man...to the victor goes the spoils..stop crying over spilt milk man and chill....hey, there`s an Ispahani shopping mall in chennai,(madras) ..u related to those folks..??.In conclusion, man i wish the new roman catholic queen of india will just unleash her hindu/muslim army(with approval from your american overlords, after they`re done with you lot ) and do a bangladesh on your pesky little country man...save us indians a lot of bother...ye are like pests that refuse to disappear man...stop being so obsessed with india man....

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