Pakistan minister says ‘serious’ in seeking to restore trade ties with India

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Pakistan was “seriously” considering resuming trade ties with India, which were suspended in August 2019 after the central government abrogated Article 370, which revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status .

He made the remarks at a press conference in London on Saturday, news agency PTI quoted Geo News as saying.

“Pakistani businessmen want to resume trade with India,” Dar said, adding that “we will seriously study the trade issue with India.”

In suspending trade ties with India, Pakistan said the decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status undermined the environment in which talks between the neighbors could be held.

In 2021, despite frosty bilateral relations, the two neighbors agreed to renew a 2003 ceasefire agreement along the Line of Control.

Earlier this month, Sherbaz Sharif was sworn in as Pakistan’s 24th Prime Minister, his second term starting in 2022. He thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for congratulating him on his re-election.

“Thank you @narendramodi for congratulating me on being elected Prime Minister of Pakistan,” Sharif tweeted on March 7.

Sharif’s tweet came two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated him on his re-election.

Modi posted on X: “Congratulations to @CMShehbaz on being sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s foreign minister’s comments came after Foreign Minister S Jaishankar lashed out at Islamabad, saying New Delhi cannot “ignore” terrorism in order to repair relations with its neighbour.

Speaking at an event in Singapore on Saturday, Jaishankar said, “This is not a one-off occurrence… but very ongoing, almost at an industry level… so we came to the conclusion that we have to find a way When it comes to addressing (the threat), avoiding the issue will do us no good and will only create more trouble.”

“Every country wants a stable neighborhood… If nothing else, you at least want a quiet neighborhood,” the foreign minister added.