HYDERABAD: The federal minister for commerce Khurram Dastigir Khan has said that Pakistan will grant India the status of Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) to facilitate enhanced bilateral trade.
“It is not MFN (Most Favoured Nation) but we call it NDMA which calls for non-discriminatory and parallel market access,” the minister told media after a meeting with members of Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI).
The commerce minister described Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to India this week as positive and said that Sharif did not indulge in reactionary diplomacy. He said that although Pakistan has certain reservations with India like Kashmir, Siachen, Afghanistan, Sir Creek and water issues, “mere handing over list of reservations is not diplomacy”.
Separately, in his address to a gathering of growers arranged by Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB), the minister said that there is no need to be fearful of Indian market’s size as Pakistan has huge export potential.
“We shouldn’t be apprehensive of India’s products and markets. Positive list has been replaced with negative list in PPP government and barring a few things all kind of trade with India is open since 2012.
“Besides India, countries like Iran, Afghanistan and gulf region are attractive markets waiting our products. We can make better returns but we must first organise ourselves,” Dastigir said.
