Pakistan Cabinet approves India as ‘most favoured’ nation
Looking to boost trade between the two arch rivals:
PAKISTAN: The Pakistani cabinet on Wednesday approved a
proposal granting India the status of “most favoured nation” in a bid to
boost trade between the two nuclear-armed arch rivals.
Pakistan has already bestowed the designation on more than 100
countries, including China,Islamabad’s closest foreign ally and India’s
key rival.
“The federal cabinet has unanimously approved India as the most-favoured
nation,” Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan told a news conference
in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.
“This will bring economic benefits to us and this decision has been
taken in the national interest,” Awan added, conceding that some cabinet
ministers had initially voiced objections to the proposal from the
commerce ministry.
Objections from cabinet ministers related to the decades-old dispute
over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which has been the cause of two
wars between India and Pakistan, and Pakistani perceptions of national
security. “The prime minister reviewed all the objections and took the
cabinet into confidence that it will not hurt our national security, and
then they unanimously approved this summary sent by the ministry of
commerce,” Awan said. AFP |