India and Pakistan held Two-day Trade Talks in New Delhi

India and Pakistan held two-day trade talks in New Delhi on 14 and 15 November 2011. These were India-Pakistan’s Commerce Secretary-level talks.

The agenda of the trade talks was laid out in terms of preparing timelines for complete normalisation of trade relationship and implementation of committed SAFTA obligations. The Most Favoured Nation (MFN) issue was among the main agenda items. The agenda included India’s seeking clarity on Pakistan’s Cabinet decision to grant it MFN status and Pakistan’s seeking liberalisation of visa regime for its businessmen. According to these trade talks agendas, Islamabad needed to treat India at par with other economic partners after the grant of MFN status.

Islamabad demanded a complete normalisation of the bilateral trade. The India-Pakistan trade is a paltry USD 2.6 billion, though the third country-routed commerce is estimated at USD 10 billion. India had granted the MFN status to Pakistan in 1996.
What is MFN?
The MFN (Most Favoured Nation) is a World Trade Organisation rule under which countries are required to give equal treatment to their trading partners.