India to cut Import Duties on 234 Items from Pakistan

The Union Cabinet on 17 August 2012 approved the Commerce Ministry’s proposal to cut down the list of sensitive items under South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) for Pakistan by 30 percent. Besides, India will also cut import duties on about 234 items from Pakistan under the bilateral trade normalisation programme.The cabinet, however, made it clear that the India will follow these measures only when Pakistan reciprocates with the same gesture and allows goods to be traded through the land routes

Pakistan permits only 137 items to be imported through the Attari land route, while the rest goods are imported through sea route, making exports largely unviable for Indian traders. Indian authorities have been consistently demanding Pakistan to allow all goods to be traded through land, but the demand has not received any positive response as yet.

India and Pakistan initiated the trade normalisation programme in early 2011 which subsequently paved the way for fastpaced liberalisation of trade and investments. The process, however, slackened over the past few months due to the political turmoil in Pakistan.