Pakistan, India talks on more CBMs Today
By Hayyan Faisal - Pakistan Times Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI (India): Encouraged by tangible progress at the two-day dialogue on nuclear CBMs, Pakistan and India will hold day-long talks on conventional confidence-building measures [CBMs] here today, Monday while negotiations on economic cooperation will start on tomorrow, Tuesday.

Leader of the nine-member delegation and Additional Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tariq Osman Hyder will lead Pakistani side at the talks, while Indian delegation will be headed by Joint Secretary (Pakistan), External Affairs Ministry, Dileep Sinha.

Pakistan and India had agreed Saturday to notify each other of Ballistic Missile tests in a structured format and operationalise the hotline between the Foreign Secretaries next month.

Meanwhile, India and Pakistan will hold three-day talks on economic and commercial cooperation from August-9 to 11 within the framework of composite dialogue process.

Trade Delegation

A high-level trade delegation led by Secretary Incharge Commerce Syed Asif Shah will arrive in New Delhi today, Monday to lead Pakistani side at the secretary-level talks.

Textiles, fruits and dry fruits from Pakistan will attract lesser duty in India as part of a major confidence-building initiative to be announced by New Delhi soon, said a news report here.

Import duties on these items would be lesser as a result of India’s decision to replace specific duties on these goods with simple duties, added the report.

The proposal to remove specific duties and replace them with simple duty will be taken up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Trade and Economic Relations Committee after Indo-Pak Commerce Secretary-level talks on economic cooperation.

Meanwhile, an official news release issued in Delhi said Indo-Pak bilateral trade has risen by 76 per cent touching dollar 600.77 million in fiscal 2004-05.

With a view to enhance bilateral trade, both countries had last year decided to set up Joint Study Group on Economic Cooperation. The first meeting of the JSG was held in February this year here.

Under the JSG, two working groups have been set up on customs and trade facilitation measures and non-tariff barriers with a view to enhance cooperation in these areas.

Indian exports to Pakistan included iron, ore, dyes and chemicals, drugs and pharmaceuticals and plastic and linoleum products among others, the release said.

While fruits and nut, cotton yarn and fabric, pulses, spices, man-made filament and leather were on the top among the products being imported from Pakistan.●