No talks with India on resumption of trade: Foreign Office
Business
Pakistan decided to suspend bilateral trade in response to India’s illegal actions in Kashmir
KARACHI (Web Desk) - The Pakistani Foreign Office said on Thursday Islamabad and New Delhi were not holding talks to resume trade, suspended in 2019 when India revoked the special status of the part of Held Kashmir.
“Pakistan decided to suspend bilateral trade in response to India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 relating to ... Held Kashmir,” Shafqat Ali Khan, the spokesperson for Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Arab News when asked to respond to the Indian minister’s comments.
Khan said the volume of bilateral trade between Pakistan and India stood at $1.907 billion in the financial year 2018-19. He said India had in 2019 withdrawn the Most-Favored Nation status granted to Pakistan and imposed 200 percent duty on all Pakistani items, “posing a serious setback to Pakistan’s exports.”
Speaking on Wednesday, Jaishankar said it was Pakistan that had suspended trade.
“Their [Pakistan] government took a decision in 2019 not to conduct trade with India, that was from their side,” Jaishankar said.
