It was confirmed, however, that suspending trade with Pakistan would not effect the export much.
Commerce, it appears, speaks a language different from geo-politics.
Amid rising hostility between India and Pakistan, a group of Pakistani tea traders spent more than a week in the country meeting Indian traders across several cities.
The members of a delegation from Pakistan Tea Association headed by its Chairman Mohammad Shakeel Jan, who had arrived in India to participate in the India International Tea Convention at Ooty on September 23, were in India all this while, at least till Wednesday when they met tea traders of Kolkata, sources in the tea industry told dna.
"The Pakistani group was in Kolkata yesterday meeting traders over lunch. It was an informal interaction with the Pakistani traders who are importing. They had come to India to participate in the international tea convention held in Ooty and stayed back," said a source, who participated in the meeting in Kolkata but refused to get identified because of sensitive nature of development.
Rising hostility between the two neighbouring countries has led to many Pakistani professionals leaving India while surgical strikes by Indian forces on the Pakistan-occupied part of Kashmir on Thursday is likely to escalate tension further.
"About 19.5-20 million kg of tea goes to Pakistan, which is not a small amount. Pakistan itself is a big market for tea for about 130 million kg, most of which is served by Kenyan tea," the source said.
"The traders belonged mostly to the Jodia bazaar, the oldest trading hub of Karachi while some were from Peshawar," an official of Federation of All India Tea Traders said.
The port city of Karachi is the hub of tea trade and most of Indian tea reaches not by land but through the sea route via Dubai or Colombo.
The extended visit by the Pakistani traders comes when a prominent tea producer's body has gone on record threatening severance of ties with Pakistan.
Azam Monem, Chairman of Indian Tea Association, the apex body of tea planters, recently said the body was ready to suspend trade with Pakistan if the government wished, adding that Pakistan is a "fair weather friend" in the case of tea trade, and suspending trade wouldn't have much impact on exports.
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