Ishaq Dar leaves after a press convention in Islamabad, Pakistan, on June 10, 2023. | Photograph credit score: REUTERS
International Minister Ishaq Dar has claimed that commerce ties between Islamabad and New Delhi stay suspended since 2019 resulting from India’s imposition of “robust duties” on imports from Pakistan following the Pulwama assault.
In a written reply submitted to the Nationwide Meeting on Saturday, Dar, who additionally serves as Deputy Prime Minister, mentioned: “India determined to impose a 200% tariff on imports from Pakistan, suspended Kashmir bus service and commerce throughout the Line of Management after Pulwama assault.”
In accordance with the Dawn Within the paper, Dar was responding to a query from Pakistan Folks’s Occasion legislator Sharmila Faruqui looking for particulars on the commerce challenges Pakistan faces in its relations with neighboring international locations, particularly India.
In March, throughout a press convention in London, Dar highlighted the passion of Pakistan’s enterprise neighborhood to renew commerce actions with India. Nonetheless, his workplace later clarified that Pakistan has no plans to renew commerce relations with India, which have been “non-existent” since 2019.
Pakistan downgraded its ties with India after the Indian Parliament suspended Article 370 on August 5, 2019, a call Islamabad believed undermined the setting for holding talks between the neighbors.
“We now have persistently advocated constructive engagement and result-oriented dialogue to resolve all excellent points, together with the core problem of Jammu and Kashmir with India…” Dar mentioned on Saturday.
The Exterior Affairs Minister mentioned that “Delhi now has the duty to take steps to create an setting conducive to peace and dialogue.”
India has maintained that it wishes regular neighborly relations with Pakistan, whereas insisting that Islamabad has the duty to create an setting freed from terror and hostility for such engagement.
Islamabad and New Delhi have a protracted historical past of tense relations, primarily because of the Kashmir problem in addition to cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.