http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120214/punjab.htm#3
Sharma, Fahim inspect international checkpost
Perneet Singh
Tribune News Service
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and his Pakistani counterpart at the Zero Line.
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and his Pakistani counterpart at the Zero Line. Photo: Vishal Kumar
Attari (Amritsar), February 13
When Union Minister Anand Sharma crossed over to Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah route today, he became the first Indian Commerce Minister to visit Pakistan in three decades.
Sharma and his Pakistani counterpart Makhdoom Amin Fahim inspected the newly constructed Integrated Check Post (ICP) in Attari as they stood at the Zero Line.
Sharma had stated last evening that he would take stock of the work at the ICP and announce when it would become operational.
In a brief interaction with the media while inspecting the ICP, Fahim claimed that Pakistan had infrastructure that matched India’s and the trade between the two countries would witness a manifold increase once the dedicated gates for trade were opened and the ICP became operational. He sounded confident that the bonhomie between India and Pakistan would translate into sound business partnership.
Sharma, along with a 120-member delegation, reached the border at 11 am. Talking to the media before stepping into Pakistan, he said the two sides were looking forward to taking bilateral ties to a new level based on trust. He was hopeful that parleys with his Pakistani counterpart would prove beneficial for the economies of both the countries.
Admitting delay in the execution of works on the ICP, he said it would become functional by April-end. On the most favoured nation (MFN) status to India, he said the two countries were moving towards it in a sequential manner.
“ We are already holding discussions on all such issues that are integral to our economic ties. Our visit will further deepen and diversify these ties.”
Admitting that there were high expectations on both sides of the border, he said their aim was to boost people-to-people contact and increase trade between the two neighbours. On Pakistan’s strategic ties with China, he said these had no impact on the India-Pakistan ties.
FICCI president RV Kanoria was hopeful that the announcement of ‘negative list’ by Pakistan for doing trade with India would help give the right impetus to bilateral trade between the two nations.
He said the two governments should ease visa restrictions, besides allowing traders multiple visa facility. From Lahore, the delegation will head for Karachi, Pakistan’s commercial capital, for interaction with the trading community there. The delegation will then leave for Islamabad on Wednesday .
One step too many
While inspecting the International Check Post from the Zero Line, Pakistan Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim stepped out into the Indian territory. Though watchful Pakistani officials accompanying him were seen gesturing him about the faux pas, he seemed too engrossed in the inspection to take note of it.
Open trade ‘boon’ for Amritsar
Amritsar: The CII Zonal Council Chairman, Suneet Kochhar, said open trade with Pakistan would immensely benefit local traders. “Lahore is merely 40 km from Amritsar and traders will find sending goods to Lahore more economically viable than transporting these to Delhi. It will be a boon for Amritsar,” he said.
Being a border area, the city could never become a favoured destination for the industry. But an open trade with Pakistan would certainly boost the trading activity, he said, adding that it would also generate employment opportunities and push up real estate prices. He demanded that the ICP be connected to the dedicated freight corridor.
Gunbir Singh, member, CII National Council on Public Policy, said the face of Attari had already changed with the coming up of the ICP. He said trade between the two countries through Wagah stood at $2 billion and could be increased to $10 billion. He described the Commerce Minister’s visit to Pakistan as a giant leap forward. “Earlier, traders would visit the two countries on a chamber-to-chamber level. But this is the first such effort at the government level,”he said.
