India to allow EU's Pak trade package to go through

[Patrician]

Allow EU's Pak package to go through, says PM​

NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister yet again made a personal intervention to extend a significant unilateral concession to Pakistan, just a few days ahead of Independence Day.

Senior sources said PM Manmohan Singh has ordered officials to withdraw India's official opposition at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to a concessional trade package offered by the European Union to Pakistan.

According to sources, the decision to reverse India's year-old stand was at the behest of Singh, and came after more than half-a-dozen meetings of WTO general council where India opposed the trade package. They said Singh's order would be implemented soon.

India, supported by Bangladesh and Peru, mounted an opposition in the WTO to the package, challenging the unprecedented EU move. They also raised doubts if the concessions would at all benefit the flood affected people of Pakistan. If India withdraws its opposition, the other two will fall in line, giving WTO approval to the unprecedented package.

In the wake of last year's devastating floods in Pakistan, EU made the offer, which has had no precedent, to provide a concessional trade package to the textile industry of Pakistan. India led the challenge to the package in WTO.

When Pakistani foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar was in India recently, she raised the issue of Indian objections with authorities here. At the commerce secretary-level meetings, the issue has been figuring prominently. It is also expected to figure among the key agenda when the commerce ministers of both sides meet in Delhi next month.

The Indian stand was prompted by principles of free trade, and not any bilateral adversity, officials insisted. The barter of trade concessions for aid violates principles of free international trade, and sets dangerous precedents, India had argued in at least six rounds of WTO meetings. India said if EU wanted to provide aid to Pakistan, it was more than welcome to do it directly but not through trade diversion couched as trade concession.

EU made the unilateral tariff concessions to Pakistan at its summit in September 2010 for export of some 75 items. The year-long concession was expected to give Pakistan a gain of about $300 million, in terms of increase in exports of finished textile products, cotton, ethanol etc. The decision was prompted by assessments that showed that the floods reduced Pakistan's GDP by about 2% in the 2010-11 financial year.

However, sources said Singh's personal gesture will not go much beyond this for the time being. A senior official said they were still watching the progress made in investigations into the 26/11 case in Pakistan, cross-border terrorism and other factors of bilateral ties. For now, there would be a very cautionary approach, other than the reversal of the WTO stand, until the end of this summer, they said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...to-go-through-says-PM/articleshow/9617604.cms

 

[Patrician]

So basically now Indian traders will be financing Pakistani traders' pay packages. How will Pakistan respond to this unilateral Goodwill gesture by India?

Will Pakistan grant India MFN status now?

Will Pakistan take some concrete action against the 26/11 accused?

or will be just another of those countless steps that Indian PM's have taken in the past but that failed to deliver?

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Trade benefits for Pakistan are limited considering the downturn in European markets not many will be ordering big orders , but a good gesture but technically , we do not need Indian approval for trade in our own country

MFN staus will automatically come when ppl will stop having problems with visa and other nonesense

 

[Patrician]

Trade benefits for Pakistan are limited considering the downturn in European markets not many will be ordering big orders , but a good gesture but technically , we do not need Indian approval for trade in our own country

MFN staus will automatically come when ppl will stop having problems with visa and other nonesense

Without Indian support, the trade package cannot go through. That is well known.

Now that India is going to withdraw its resistance to the package, it will sail through since the other two opposing countries, Bangladesh and Peru are also likely to follow India's decision.

 

[jdme]

Pointless gesture.

 

[StormShadow]

India is a cursed nation under congress rule.

 

[ameer219]

Thank you India. Your good gesture will not be forgotten.

 

[Patrician]

Thank you India. Your good gesture will not be forgotten.

Many more good gestures could follow if your folks show a little more maturity and punish mass murderers of Indians like Hafiz Saeed, Lakhvi and Dawood Ibrahim. These guys have killed hundreds of innocent people while bringing disrepute to Pakistan itself. Have some heart.

 

[OrionHunter]

The only way both countries can go forward is to forget the past and begin anew. In other words we need to press the restart button! (Needless to say, Pakistan does need to take action as it deems fit on the perpetrators of the 26/11 pogrom as soon as possible).

 

[kawaraj]

so now India is the overlord of EU in making their trade policy?

what the hell? your evil gesture came in first, now good will come in to show how mercy you are?

 

[kawaraj]

Without Indian support, the trade package cannot go through. That is well known.

how ironic? without your support....?, it's your Opposition that make this package stuck in there.

this is called "well known"

 

[tjpf]

so now India is the overlord of EU in making their trade policy?

what the hell? your evil gesture came in first, now good will come in to show how mercy you are?

hmmmmmmmmm

 

[jdme]

how ironic? without your support....?, it's your Opposition that make this package stuck in there.

this is called "well known"

And I prefer India to show it's opposition any chance it can get. I don't like this attitude of letting things slide in the name of "peaceful gesture".

 

[Bhairava]

Very very foolish move as it will directly affect many poor ones in India.

 

[GORKHALI]

We have a sissy PM on crown,what else you expect from these guys ??Am not against decison but am a supporter of 600million farmer who work hard day and night ,still they never get the oppurtunity to sell their product to market directly with right value..Damn!to congress,damn!to these fu*cking leaders..