ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided to defer plans to allow limited imports of sugar, cotton and wheat from India, a top minister said on Thursday, following what is being seen as a political backlash against the move in the South Asian nation.
Pakistan’s Economic Coordination Committee had on Wednesday given the go-ahead for imports from India, with Finance Minister Hammad Azhar telling reporters the government had made the decision in the public interest when questioned why trade was resuming despite no change in New Delhi’s position on Kashmir — a disputed territory ruled in part but claimed in full by both nations.
Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told reporters the decision to allow Indian imports had been “deferred” until New Delhi restored Indian-administered Kashmir’s special status.
In a video message after a cabinet meeting to review the decision on Indian imports, Foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said:
“It was everyone’s unanimous decision, including the prime minister’s, that until India does not revise the August 5, 2019 unilateral decision [to revoke the special autonomy of Kashmir], normalizing relations with India will not be possible.”
Pakistan’s major opposition parties have already expressed concern over the government’s announcement on Wednesday.
Former senator Sehar Kamran from the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party said trade with India and restorations of relations “cannot be done at the cost of Kashmir.”
“Any peace initiative can only progress if the people of Kashmir get their right to self-determination as per the United Nations resolutions,” she told Arab News. “At a time when people of Kashmir are facing oppression and suppression, what kind of relationship we are trying to build with India? Naturally, there are concerns and apprehensions.”
Raja Zafar ul Haq, a senior leader of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, echoed Kamran’s sentiments.
“The government didn’t bring this matter to parliament or discuss it with political parties and Kashmiri leadership,” he told Arab News. “This will not have a positive impact on the country.”
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Imran Khan responded to a letter by his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the occasion of Pakistan’s Republic Day on March 23, saying the government and people of his country wanted peaceful and cooperative relations with all neighbors, including India.
“Durable peace and security in South Asia is contingent upon resolving all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan, particularly the Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” Khan said in his letter.
Qureshi this week also acknowledged progress in relations between the two South Asian neighbors, saying there had been “positive developments” such as the announcement of a cease-fire on the disputed Kashmir border in February and the resumption of water talks last month.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
