SAARC refers SAFTA issue to Council of Commerce Ministers

DHAKA, (PTI): SAARC Foreign Ministers decided to refer to the grouping's Council of Commerce Ministers India's complaint that Pakistan was not implementing SAFTA in letter and spirit.

The decision by the Foreign Ministerial-meeting of the seven-nation regional grouping was received positively by the Indian side.

"We raised this issue not because it is India-Pakistan dispute. It is affecting the SAARC process as well as all the member countries," Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed told reporters at the end of the meeting.

He said when a country "deviates from the agreement and is not fulfilling obligations it ought to fulfill, naturally it is a matter to be resolved by SAARC Council of Commerce Ministers. So that is why it has been referred to it by consensus."

The Indo-Pak dispute over SAFTA implementation dominated the Foreign Ministerial meeting after New Delhi raised its objections to Islamabad's effort to limit trade under SAFTA.

India said Pakistan attaching conditionalities to trade with it under SAFTA was against the essence of the Agreement and "contradict the commitment" made by the leaders at the 13th SAARC Summit in Dhaka in November last.

"Every contracting state has certain obligations and if one state is not fulfilling, it will definitely be negation of the entire agreement," Ahamed said.