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Terror sealed their lips, trade makes them talk: The Indian Express
Cancun, Sept 14: There`s a lot of heat in Cancun as the trade and tariff wars gather momentum. But that heat is also responsible for a significant thaw: away from the pressures of the subcontinent, India and Pakistan are talking.
Cancun, Sept 14: There’s a lot of heat in Cancun as the trade and tariff wars gather momentum. But that heat is also responsible for a significant thaw: away from the pressures of the subcontinent, India and Pakistan are talking.
Indeed, Pakistan appears to have acknowledged India’s leadership of the Group of 21 countries opposing the developed nations’ pressures on reducing farms tariffs. And India is playing the elder brother, allowing access to its experience and more developed systems.
At yesterday’s meeting of the G-21, midway through the five-day WTO conference, Pakistan had some strong words of support for its neighbour. ‘‘Don’t blink on Day 3 while dealing with the developed countries. Having taken a firm position there’s no point in showing concessions now’’, its Trade Minister Humayun Akhtar told the Indian team.
The support is two-way. While Pakistan backs India’s fight against the big countries, their trade and industry delegation — starved of political direction from within — has found much to envy in Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley’s leadership role. When they expressed a desire to meet Jaitley, he agreed and, having met them, arranged a business meeting between the chambers of commerce and industry from Pakistan and the CII.
The India Control Room, where the Indian delegation works, is the venue for all meetings involving G-21 countries and Pakistan has joined the club as a natural ally of India attending meetings, as many as three a day.
The interaction isn’t just at the ministerial level — Jaitley’s lunch for the ‘likeminded group’ was attended with much enthusiasm by his counterpart Akhtar. Officials accompanying Akhtar have been in low-key discussions with Jaitley and his team of officials while waiting for meetings at the Convention Centre.
Says Jaitley: ‘‘I found a distinct interest and curiosity in the Pakistani industry and civil servants. And even though there’ve been formal meetings, they’ve used every possible opportunity to discuss WTO issues with us.’’
The interaction has helped the Pakistan team understand how Indian industry had become backroom boys for the Commerce Ministry and were giving their inputs and analysis on what the impact of each clause negotiated at the WTO would have on the industry and the country as a whole.
Indeed, Pakistan appears to have acknowledged India’s leadership of the Group of 21 countries opposing the developed nations’ pressures on reducing farms tariffs. And India is playing the elder brother, allowing access to its experience and more developed systems.
At yesterday’s meeting of the G-21, midway through the five-day WTO conference, Pakistan had some strong words of support for its neighbour. ‘‘Don’t blink on Day 3 while dealing with the developed countries. Having taken a firm position there’s no point in showing concessions now’’, its Trade Minister Humayun Akhtar told the Indian team.
The support is two-way. While Pakistan backs India’s fight against the big countries, their trade and industry delegation — starved of political direction from within — has found much to envy in Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley’s leadership role. When they expressed a desire to meet Jaitley, he agreed and, having met them, arranged a business meeting between the chambers of commerce and industry from Pakistan and the CII.
The India Control Room, where the Indian delegation works, is the venue for all meetings involving G-21 countries and Pakistan has joined the club as a natural ally of India attending meetings, as many as three a day.
The interaction isn’t just at the ministerial level — Jaitley’s lunch for the ‘likeminded group’ was attended with much enthusiasm by his counterpart Akhtar. Officials accompanying Akhtar have been in low-key discussions with Jaitley and his team of officials while waiting for meetings at the Convention Centre.
Says Jaitley: ‘‘I found a distinct interest and curiosity in the Pakistani industry and civil servants. And even though there’ve been formal meetings, they’ve used every possible opportunity to discuss WTO issues with us.’’
The interaction has helped the Pakistan team understand how Indian industry had become backroom boys for the Commerce Ministry and were giving their inputs and analysis on what the impact of each clause negotiated at the WTO would have on the industry and the country as a whole.
This isn’t all, or the end of the relationship, says CII director-general Tarun Das. ‘‘We have been working with the Pakistan industry for a while and later this week External Affairs minister Yashwant Sinha will launch an India-Pakistan CEOs’ Forum. We will receive the Pakistan delegation at the Wagah border.’’
But before anyone gets carried away, Munir Akhtar, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US, puts things in perspective. He concedes India and Pakistan ‘‘have been together’’ on these issues but asked whether this could lead to political reconciliation, said, ‘‘What’s politics got to do with economics?’’