Pakistan agrees to grant Most Favoured Nation status to India: Report

Pakistan has agreed to grant the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India, something which New Delhi had been demanding for many years, a media report said today.

A senior official of the Ministry of Trade said on the condition of anonymity that the status of MFN would be granted during the current year, Urdu daily Jang reported.

Pakistan has in return asked for immediate lifting of non-tariff restrictions on its exports to India.

Sources said that Trade and Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim would soon announce basic changes in Pakistan's trade policy.

One of the amendments will be a draft to review the list of trade items between the two countries.

According to the source, Pakistan has agreed to grant MFN status to India this very year in return for lifting the non-tariff restrictions on imports from Pakistan. This will fulfill the long-standing Indian demand in return for lifting of non-tariff restrictions alone.

The report comes ahead of a possible meeting between the commerce ministers of India and Pakistan after a gap of over three years in New Delhi next month to discuss ways to boost trade and proposals to remove non-tariff barriers as the two countries make efforts to normalise relations.

Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma has invited his Pakistani counterpart Fahim, a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan People's Party, to visit New Delhi for the meeting.