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Some ways Safta is MFN plus for India; Kasuri
Islamabad, Jan 15: Playing down the significance of Pakistan not granting the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said in some ways the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) framework treaty signed by the Saarc countries during last week`s regional summit here provided more benefits to New Delhi than the MFN status itself.
Islamabad, Jan 15: Playing down the significance of Pakistan not granting the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said in some ways the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) framework treaty signed by the Saarc countries during last week's regional summit here provided more benefits to New Delhi than the MFN status itself.
"Some ways Safta is MFN plus so why bother about the issue and create controversies?" Kasuri said in an interview to newspersons here last night.
For Pakistan, trading with India was a sensitive issue as some sections were opposed to it due to problems between the two countries, he said.
"We are quite serious, but some times we carry historical baggage. Better to assume that the multilateral framework will provide the necessary buffer against various negative forces," he said.
Asserting that Safta would bring more trade benefits to all the countries in the region including India and Pakistan, he said as the peace process gathered momentum, all suspicions among people would get reduced and the negative forces get neutralised.
For Pakistan, trading with India was a sensitive issue as some sections were opposed to it due to problems between the two countries, he said.
"We are quite serious, but some times we carry historical baggage. Better to assume that the multilateral framework will provide the necessary buffer against various negative forces," he said.
Asserting that Safta would bring more trade benefits to all the countries in the region including India and Pakistan, he said as the peace process gathered momentum, all suspicions among people would get reduced and the negative forces get neutralised.
Bureau Report