'Neighbours cannot be changed': Pak foreign minister says talks on to restore trade ties with India

At a presser in London, Pakistan foreign minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar said the country's business community wants to restore trade with India that remained suspended since August 2019. "We are sorry for Indian actions of August 2019, but the business community wants to restore trade with India. In this regard, all the stakeholders will be consulted and a decision will be taken after reviewing all the proposals," he said.  

Pakistan downgraded its diplomatic ties with New Delhi after the Indian government abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcating the State into two Union Territories.

The decision, Islamabad said, undermined the environment for holding talks between the neighbours.

The chances of trade with India remains elusive reportedly due to lack of consensus among the stakeholders regarding the restoration of trade relations between the two neighbours. It is believed that there are differences of opinion among the stakeholders regarding the move. 

Even within the Foreign Office, there are divided views, according to media reports from Pakistan. A study conducted by an international financial institution spoke of the great trade potential between Pakistan and India. The study shows that the true trade potential between Pakistan and India could be over $25 billion. The Foreign Office reportedly believes Pakistan must wait until the Lok Sabha elections. The clear picture would emerge only once a new government is in place in New Delhi in May.

Pakistan has been insisting that the onus of improving the ties was on India and urging it to undo its “unilateral” steps in Kashmir as a sort of pre-condition to start the talks.