Imran Khan

NEW DELHI, APRIL 3

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has decided that trade cannot be held with India under the current political circumstances.

Pakistan officials pointed out that the decision to import cotton and sugar was a commercial recommendation by a committee. The Federal Cabinet, chaired by Khan, has turned it down because there has been no change in the political situation – India’s abrogation of Article 370 and change in status of

J&K that compelled Islamabad to cut off all trade with India in August 2019.

Several explanations are being given in Pakistan for reversing a proposal that would have generated economic activity on both sides of the Wagah border. Moeed Yusuf, Pakistan’s designated NSA, said Imran Khan wore two hats. As the minister in charge of commerce, he approved trade with India but as the PM, he opposed the proposal, explained Yusuf.

The PM has now instructed officials to find alternatives, other than Indian, for cheap sources of import of the needed commodities. Indian sugar was 15 to 20 per cent below global prices and Indian cotton and yarn would have bridged the supply shortfall for Pakistani textile mills. — TNS