Pakistan does U-turn on resuming trade ties with India

Pakistan did a U-turn on a move for limited resumption of trade with India, as a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday rejected a government panel’s decision to allow imports of sugar and cotton from the neighbouring country, the Pakistani media reported. There was no official word on the development from the Pakistan government. The reasons for the sudden change could not immediately be ascertained.The Pakistani flip-flop came hours after human rights minister Shireen Mazari, known for her anti-India stance, tweeted that all decisions made by the ECC have to be approved by the Cabinet. 

On Wednesday, Pakistan’s new finance minister Hammad Azhar had announced the decision to import cotton and sugar from India and defended the move in the face of questions from the media. The ECC had approved imports of up to 500,000 tonnes of sugar by the private sector and also allowed imports of cotton up to the end of June to meet the needs of small and medium enterprises. Azhar had sidestepped a question from a reporter on the resumption of trade ties with India without addressing the Kashmir issue by saying: “If the burden on the ordinary man is reduced by trading with some country, there is no loss in it.”