India should get MFN status: Pak delegation

Members of a high-level business delegation from Pakistan led by commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim on Monday said there is a strong opinion in his country that India should be given the Most Favoured Nation status.

Members of a high-level business delegation from Pakistan led by commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim on Monday said there is a strong opinion in his country that India should be given the Most Favoured Nation status.

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The delegation, led by Fahim, met Maharashtra governor K Sankaranarayanan at Raj Bhavan on Mumbai.

"Members of the delegation told the governor that there is a strong opinion in Pakistan that India should be given the status of a Most Favoured Nation," an official release said.

While India bestowed MFN status on Pakistan in 1996, it is yet to reciprocate.

The commerce minister expressed confidence that his visit at the head of a top-level business delegation will prove to be a "stepping stone for future relations between Pakistan and India".

Members of the business community accompanying the Minister said it was high time that India and Pakistan forgot their differences and dealt with political and business issues exclusive of one another.

The CEO of Pak Denim Mirza Ikhtiar Baig described the visit by Pakistan Commerce Minister to India as "path-breaking". He said regional trade has proved to be a successful business model for all the regional blocks across the world and that therefore SAARC countries should also adopt the same model.

This is the first visit by a Pakistani commerce minister to India in 35 years.

Welcoming the delegation, Sankaranarayanan expressed the hope that the visit will strengthen cooperation between the business communities in the two countries.