Kashmir: If progress is to be made, India must dictate the terms

[Bang Galore]

Are you asking the right question? Do we need to change Pakistan's attitude? And if so, what is the reason for that attitude. So, let us start at this point

That was relevant only to the post my reply was directed at.

Hence, we should welcome trade, but forget making any attempt to changing 'attitudes'. That is an internal process.

I agree. We can trade and that is all i pointed out.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

If you assume that territorial disputes are going to be deadlocked & therefore we must move on in the economic field, that would pretty much be the Indian position. Something that Pakistan seems unable to bring itself to agree on.

I just don't see any significant economic benefit to Pakistan in liberalizing trade with India, at least not along the lines currently proposed, of increasing the kinds of products each country can currently export to the other.

A lot of commentators argue that Pakistan could "export raw goods to India", but it's not like Pakistan has massive reserves of 'raw goods' just sitting around which she is unable to export to any country except for India. At best these "exports of raw goods" would show a small incremental uptick, whereas the much larger and diverse Indian industrial base would be able to tap into several sections of the Pakistani market, potentially at the expense of the Chinese.

 

[surya kiran]

I just don't see any significant economic benefit to Pakistan in liberalizing trade with India, at least not along the lines currently proposed, of increasing the kinds of products each country can currently export to the other.

A lot of commentators argue that Pakistan could "export raw goods to India", but it's not like Pakistan has massive reserves of 'raw goods' just sitting around which she is unable to export to any country except for India. At best these "exports of raw goods" would show a small incremental uptick, whereas the much larger and diverse Indian industrial base would be able to tap into several sections of the Pakistani market, potentially at the expense of the Chinese.

Actually, there are in certain sectors. For example, I was listening in to a chap who is a owner of cement factories in Pakistan. He wants to send it to India, since, the cost of that cement will be lower than the cement transported from Southern India. This is just one example.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Actually, there are in certain sectors. For example, I was listening in to a chap who is a owner of cement factories in Pakistan. He wants to send it to India, since, the cost of that cement will be lower than the cement transported from Southern India. This is just one example.

Limited sectors, with limited potential. Yes, a few traders and industrialists will get wealthy, but from a national perspective there is no massive "reserve of raw materials that can only be exported to India".

The opposition to unregulated or minimally regulated trade with India is not just from the military establishment, there are sound economic reasons in favor of continuing the current strongly regulated trade regime, at least until the Pakistani economy can develop enough to compete in various sectors of the Indian economy, or offsets along the lines of what I mentioned earlier can be negotiated with the GoI.