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Govt dithers on Musharraf's address to India Inc

Aditi Phadnis

An informal suggestion from Pakistani officials that Gen Pervez Musharraf address a business gathering during his three-day visit to India sometime in July, has been put on hold by the Indian government.

Pakistan was 'extremely keen' that during his trip, the chief executive be invited to speak by a business forum, industry sources said.

However, they are awaiting a green signal from the Indian government which is still in the process of holding consultations to decide what kind of focus the forthcoming Musharraf visit should be given.

If there is an area in Indo-Pakistan relations where there is a chance of a breakthrough, it is business. Soon after the Lahore summit of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif, Indian and Pakistani businessmen formed the Indo-Pakistan Chamber of Commerce, represented on the Indian side, by Ficci.

However, this forum has not had even one bilateral meeting because political relations between the two countries went into a freeze thereafter.

A recent trip to Islamabad by an Indian team to attend a meeting of businessmen from Saarc countries, was converted into an encounter between Indian and Pakistani businessmen on the sidelines.

There is a huge wishlist of moves on both sides which could help Indians and Pakistanis do business with each other. While India awarded the Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan in 1995 under its WTO obligations, Pakistan has not followed suit.

A proposal to offer India MFN status made by Gen Musharraf last year was greeted with anger by the Jamaat-e-Islami.

The Pakistani commerce ministry's figures show that between them, India and Pakistan import and export about 600 items worth $35 million every year.

Independent studies, however, put bilateral trade at between $1 and $2 billion-most of which comprises smuggled goods. According to Pakistani academics, the country loses an estimated $500 million annually in custom duties to smugglers.

Rather than buy from India, Pakistan imports wheat from United States, and expensive medicines and fertilizers from third nations.

In September last year, Gen Pervez Musharraf rejected a proposal to sell surplus power to India, being the second Pakistani ruler to do so in less than five years. A proposal made by Inder Kumar Gujral when he was Prime Minister, that Pakistan sell surplus power to India was given a short shrift by Nawaz Sharif on the grounds that Pakistan had no power to sell.

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