Justin Joseph
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Pak to import contraceptives from India
New Delhi: Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan, Pakistan’s Minister for Population Welfare, declared here on Wednesday that her country would like to import contraceptives from India directly to control the population. Currently, Indian made contraceptives reach in her country via Dubai.
She also adds that the only way to bridge the trust deficit, plug the communication gaps and remove the distorted perceptions in the minds of the politicians and the people of India and Pakistan about one another was to sit together and expeditiously resume the composite dialogue at the political level.
Addressing a business meeting organized by FICCI, the visiting Pakistan Minister, in the first state-to-state contact after the Mumbai incidents on 2008, said, “This is not the time to fight on the war front. We can collectively win the war over the complicated mindset of accusing one another of fomenting terrorism through deepening our economic engagement. The way forward was the resumption of the composite dialogue. In parallel, we need to strengthen our economic exchanges and people-to-people contact.”
Dr Awan said that “Terrorism was a global phenomenon and it needs to be addressed through a global strategy. No single country has the capacity to handle the menace single-handedly. Pakistan itself has been a victim of terrorism and each day there are two or three bomb blasts in Pakistan.” In this scenario, the Pakistan Minister said that India and Pakistan cannot bulldoze each other’s interest. “We are two sovereign states. Why can’t we live like good neighbors and strengthen our economic and business relations for the benefit of our people,” she asked.
The Pakistan Minister said that it must be recognized that “a stable Pakistan will lead to a stable India and a stable region.” Therefore imperative, she said, to engage constructively through a composite dialogue. “We want to forget the miseries of the past and move forward. We will do our job. But it is equally necessary to create conducive environment through public pressure, business engagement and people-to-people contact to get the process of normalization and enhancement of bilateral relations moving. It is here that FICCI had a pivotal role to play,” she added.
Responding to the issue in the way of closer business engagement raised by Mr. Harsh Pati Singhania, Immediate Past President, FICCI, Mr. Shahid Malik, Pakistan High Commissioner to India, said that the grant of MFN status to India by Pakistan was held up because of lack of market access to Pakistani goods by India through the raising of NTBs. While India was exporting goods worth US$ 2 billion to Pakistan, its import from Pakistan was a mere US$ 200 million, mainly due to NTBs.
As regards easy movement of goods between the two countries, Mr. Malik said that a lot of improvement in infrastructure had taken place in recent times across the Wagah border and this should facilitate direct movement of goods. The absence of commercial banks in each other’s countries, he said, would have to await the right and conducive atmosphere.
The Pakistan envoy said that to make trade relations between the two countries sustainable, it was necessary to improve political relations. “Both tracks have to move in tandem, he said, adding that his message was to take advantage of the current situation as this was the best time to bring relations between the two countries back to normal,” Mr. Malik said.
Pak to import contraceptives from India
New Delhi: Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan, Pakistan’s Minister for Population Welfare, declared here on Wednesday that her country would like to import contraceptives from India directly to control the population. Currently, Indian made contraceptives reach in her country via Dubai.
She also adds that the only way to bridge the trust deficit, plug the communication gaps and remove the distorted perceptions in the minds of the politicians and the people of India and Pakistan about one another was to sit together and expeditiously resume the composite dialogue at the political level.
Addressing a business meeting organized by FICCI, the visiting Pakistan Minister, in the first state-to-state contact after the Mumbai incidents on 2008, said, “This is not the time to fight on the war front. We can collectively win the war over the complicated mindset of accusing one another of fomenting terrorism through deepening our economic engagement. The way forward was the resumption of the composite dialogue. In parallel, we need to strengthen our economic exchanges and people-to-people contact.”
Dr Awan said that “Terrorism was a global phenomenon and it needs to be addressed through a global strategy. No single country has the capacity to handle the menace single-handedly. Pakistan itself has been a victim of terrorism and each day there are two or three bomb blasts in Pakistan.” In this scenario, the Pakistan Minister said that India and Pakistan cannot bulldoze each other’s interest. “We are two sovereign states. Why can’t we live like good neighbors and strengthen our economic and business relations for the benefit of our people,” she asked.
The Pakistan Minister said that it must be recognized that “a stable Pakistan will lead to a stable India and a stable region.” Therefore imperative, she said, to engage constructively through a composite dialogue. “We want to forget the miseries of the past and move forward. We will do our job. But it is equally necessary to create conducive environment through public pressure, business engagement and people-to-people contact to get the process of normalization and enhancement of bilateral relations moving. It is here that FICCI had a pivotal role to play,” she added.
Responding to the issue in the way of closer business engagement raised by Mr. Harsh Pati Singhania, Immediate Past President, FICCI, Mr. Shahid Malik, Pakistan High Commissioner to India, said that the grant of MFN status to India by Pakistan was held up because of lack of market access to Pakistani goods by India through the raising of NTBs. While India was exporting goods worth US$ 2 billion to Pakistan, its import from Pakistan was a mere US$ 200 million, mainly due to NTBs.
As regards easy movement of goods between the two countries, Mr. Malik said that a lot of improvement in infrastructure had taken place in recent times across the Wagah border and this should facilitate direct movement of goods. The absence of commercial banks in each other’s countries, he said, would have to await the right and conducive atmosphere.
The Pakistan envoy said that to make trade relations between the two countries sustainable, it was necessary to improve political relations. “Both tracks have to move in tandem, he said, adding that his message was to take advantage of the current situation as this was the best time to bring relations between the two countries back to normal,” Mr. Malik said.
Pak to import contraceptives from India