New Delhi: Pakistan foreign minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar has reportedly said in London that his country will seriously consider restoration of trade ties with India that were suspended in August 2019. News agency reports as well as Pakistani media reports said the minister made the comments at a press conference in London, which perhaps indicates a softening of the stand of the cash-strapped nation when it comes to trade with its bigger neighbour India, which is the world’s fifth largest economy and also the world’s fastest-growing big economy.This could also signal the first big initiative on the part of the Shehbaz Sharif government in Pakistan to improve ties with India, which is also significant given that the current Pakistani government is seen to enjoy the full support of the Pakistan military that calls the shots in the Islamic nuclear-armed nation. It may be recalled that Islamabad had suspended trade ties with New Delhi nearly five years ago after India abrogated provisions of Article 370 of its Constitution that had given a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, which was subsequently split into two Union territories by New Delhi.The Pakistan foreign minister apparently highlighted the eagerness of his country’s business community to restore trade ties with India. “Pakistani businessmen want trade with India to resume… We will seriously look into matters of trade with India,” the foreign minister was quoted as saying by the Pakistani media. It may also be noted that once in the past five years there had been a move on the part of Islamabad to tread this path, but this was scuttled due to a political uproar. With the Pakistani economy in dire straits, the Shehbaz Sharif government’s focus is now to stabilise the economy.Interestingly, earlier on Saturday, Pakistan’s top diplomat in New Delhi had spoken of “peaceful co-existence” and Pakistan’s desire for a peaceful relationship with India. Pakistan’s new charge d’affaires Saad Ahmad Warraich, speaking on the occasion of his country’s National Day, had said Pakistan “would continue to play a pivotal role” for trade, connectivity and regional integration. It may be recalled though that Pakistan, as a part of Saarc, had earlier blocked connectivity initiatives in the region. Frustrated over Islamabad continuously placing obstacles in India’s trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia though the land route that passes through Pakistan, India had developed the Iranian port of Chabahar to bypass Pakistan and trade with Central Asia through the sea-land route via Iran.India, however, remains watchful and has reiterated several times that Islamabad first has to disband the terror apparatus in that country and stop cross-border terrorism aimed at India. New Delhi has made it clear on several occasions that “talks and terror cannot go together”.
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