Pakistan, India have a lot to gain from mutual trade, says Shehbaz

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that Islamabad is looking to forge partnerships for its geo-economics strategy, especially within the region, which apparently includes India.

He was responding to a question about trade with India in an interview with Turkish media outlet Anadolu Agency ahead of his three-day visit to the country, Dawn reported. “Pakistan and India have a lot to gain from mutually beneficial trade,” he said as quoted by Dawn. “We are cognisant of the economic dividends that can be accrued from a healthy trade activity with India,” the prime minister said further.

After coming to power in Pakistan in early April, Shehbaz Sharif had written a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing his desire for peaceful ties with India and the resolution of all the outstanding issues.

This comes in the wake of PM Modi’s congratulatory wishes to the then newly elected Pakistani counterpart. Sharif, in his reply, thanked PM Modi for congratulating him and said that his country desires peaceful and cooperative ties with India, reported ARY News. In his first address to the National Assembly after being sworn in, Sharif had said: “We want good ties with India but durable peace is not possible until the Kashmir dispute is resolved.”

On Tuesday, India and Pakistan finalised and signed the annual report of the Permanent Indus Commission for the year which ended on March 31, 2022.

The Indus Water Treaty has survived the freeze in bilateral relations. — ani

We are cognisant of the economic dividends that can be accrued from a healthy trade activity with India.

Shehbaz Sharif

Pakistan’s Prime Minister