Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday said the process of
giving India Most Favoured Nation status to boost bilateral
trade is expected to be completed by October next year.
Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said "October next
year is the timeframe which has been given" for granting MFN
status to India.
He was responding to a question during the weekly news
briefing on the latest status of the Pakistan government`s
move to grant MFN status to India.
Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan had recently
announced during a news conference that the cabinet had
conferred the status to India but the government subsequently
clarified that the process was yet to be completed.
Basit said the Commerce Ministry is working on the issue
and a decision will be made "in sync with our interest and WTO
rules".
"The decision in principle was taken by the cabinet.
Details as to how MFN status will be granted, the nitty-gritty
are being worked out," he said.
Following talks between their Commerce Ministers, India
and Pakistan recently unveiled a slew of measures to normalise
trade relations and to boost trade from USD two billion to USD
six billion in three years.
PTI
