Project report to be prepared on
“India-Pakistan Trade Relations”
Under the guidance of
Dr. Anuj Sharma
By Group 1:
Deepakshi Mahajan (13IB320)
Rohit Rakhecha (13IB341)
Apoorv Mishra (13IB313) Karamjeet Singh (13IB325)
Mayank Baheti (13IB363)
Prabhjot Kaur (13IB336)
History:
Trade between India and Pakistan has been fundamentally influenced by factors that are not purely economic. At the time of Partition in 1947, both economies were heavily interdependent, with the share of the Indian market in Pakistan’s exports at close to one fourth, and over half of Pakistan’s imports coming from India. Thereafter, bilateral trade has had a cheered history. Trade virtually ceased after the wars of 1965 and 1971.
Some positive steps have been made since 1995, when India announced its decision to grant most favored nation (MFN) status to Pakistan, and the latter established a positive list with respect to imports from India. The signing of the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) in 2004 was a major step forward in the eventual establishment of a customs union in the region. Recently, Pakistan has announced it potentially landmark decision to grant MFN status to India by the end of 2012. In the interim period, a restricted positive list has transitioned to a negative list, which opens up a large percentage of tariff lines for imports from India.
Further, the two countries have agreed to simplify customs procedures and facilitate the process of goods certification. India has also announced that it welcomes investment by resident Pakistanis and companies.
Clearly, the environment for bilateral trade has greatly improved. This augurs well for future growth in trade between the two countries, who are making an effort to move away from the old view of “peace first, trade later” to “trade now, peace later.” It is hoped that the expansion of trade will create stronger constituencies for peace in both countries.
Our objective is to explore the possibilities of