Blessing in disguise

The restricted bilateral trade between India and Pakistan is a blessing in disguise. Otherwise, there would have been a deluge of Indian consumer goods, including agricultural produce, into Pakistan, much like the dumping of Chinese items. Pakistan has a limited list of items that can be offered for export to India. Additionally, India follows a regulated and restrictive import policy whereas Pakistan has a liberal import regime which allows import of all type of luxury and unnecessary foreign goods and is responsible for strangulating local industries as well as the farming community.

Even with the present volume, the trade is heavily tilted in favour of India as our imports from India far exceed the exports. To reduce the country’s overall trade deficit and avert the balance of payment crisis, it is imperative that we work for achieving favourable trade balance. In this context, there is an urgent need to review the Free Trade Agreements (FTA) and Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA) that are creating distortions in our current account.

Arif Majeed

Karachi