Karachi, May 05: Shipping officials from India and Pakistan held informal talks today on expanding their current shipping accord and on starting a ferry service between Karachi and Mumbai, a senior Indian official said. India's secretary to the ministry of shipping, d t Joseph, said he discussed both matters with Pakistan's secretary of communications Iftikhar Rashid on the sidelines of an international shipping conference in Karachi. "We discussed the shipping protocol and resumption of ferry services between Mumbai and Karachi," he said.
Foreign Ministry and shipping officials from both countries will likely meet after elections in India conclude later this month, Joseph said. India wants to change a 1975 shipping protocol that allows only bilateral cargo traffic between the two countries, Joseph said.
He said the change would let each country's ships also handle consignments from other countries, which would boost trade in South Asia.


Bureau Report