Less rhetoric, more trade. This seemed to be the reigning mantra at the “Pakistan Show” in Amritsar, charming visitors with a wide array of merchandise from across the border, including exquisite carpets, textiles and dry fruits.
The trade expo, which has brought in more than 100 Pakistani exhibitors to India in the midst of the world’s most rambunctious elections, underlined the growing salience on trade diplomacy to smoothen the prickly and troubled India-Pakistan relations. The May 8-12 trade show, staged at the swanky Trilium Mall in Amritsar, home to Sikhism’s holy shrine, has been organised by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).
Opening the expo, Pakistan’s suave envoy underlined the need to build stronger people-to-people relations and voiced confidence that the two countries will be able to work together to enhance trade and ease visa restrictions when the new government assumes power.
“The two Punjab’s are blazing the trail in our two countries. The Pakistan show inaugurated this afternoon is testimony to the fact that enormous opportunity exists between two countries; this also shows that two countries can work together on mutual respect,” Pakistan’s High Commissioner Abdul Basit said on the sidelines of the trade show.
The envoy also underscored that his country was confident that the next Indian government will respond to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s region first vision and his ‘policy of peace for development.’ “Pakistan as a democratic country cannot but only strive for peace and prosperity of the two countries and the region as a whole,” he said.
Indicating that trade-focused diplomacy could help transform India-Pakistan relations in days to come, the envoy expressed hope that bilateral trade will get a boost when the new dispensation takes charge in New Delhi later this month. Lahore hosted a “Made in India” trade show in February this year.
“I think trade is part of our overall dialogue process and we have come a long way in that context-currently our bilateral trade is 2.6 billion US dollars. One hopes that as we move forward, we engage with each other and the trade process will get a further boost when the new government takes over.”
The envoy also stressed on the need to bolster popular exchanges between the two neighbours, whose ties have been marred by historical baggage and a festering trust deficit. “Visa is one area where we are working with the Indian Government, to see as to how this can be further liberalized. Unless we create opportunities for our two peoples and to meet each other more freely, it would continue to be rather difficult to build a normal relation between two countries,” Basit said.
Bolstering trade diplomacy is backed by businessmen and industrialists from both sides of the border. “Trade, and only trade, can bring peace between the two neighbours,” said LCCI president Sohail Lashari. In a similar vein, Dalip Sharma, director, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI), an Indian business lobby, stressed on enhancing people-to-people linkages through organising more trade shows. “The objective of organizing these kinds of expos is to engage masses in people-to-people dialogue leading to peace and harmony,” said Sharma.
Pakistan has been prevaricating on granting the long-delayed decision to grant India Most Favoured Nation status, which could be an important step in transforming economic relations between the two subcontinental neighbours.
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