Trade can help improve ties, says Pak delegation

CHANDIGARH: Entrepreneurs from Pakistan say increasing the India-Pak trade can bring peace between the two neighbours. These three Pakistani entrepreneurs kept a low profile while participating in the four-day Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Agro Tech 2016, a biennial four-day agriculture technology and business exposition.

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 22

Entrepreneurs from Pakistan say increasing the India-Pak trade can bring peace between the two neighbours.

These three Pakistani entrepreneurs kept a low profile while participating in the four-day Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Agro Tech 2016, a biennial four-day agriculture technology and business exposition. However, the Pakistani delegation said it was eagerly waiting for a positive outcome from the sixth ministerial conference of the “Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process” in Amritsar from December 3.

Syed Yawar Ali, co-chairman of the India-Pakistan Joint Business Forum, said he hoped the visit of Pakistan Prime Minister’s Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz to Amritsar would pave the way for the resumption of a comprehensive bilateral dialogue.

The Chairman of Nestle, Pakistan, Ali steered clear of any comment on the ties between the two nations going sour but said the imminent arrival of Sartaj Aziz for the Heart of Asia conference was a good sign for the trading community on both sides of the border.

“Not only the trading community, Pakistan’s civil society too wants normalcy in ties. More trade can help achieve peace as business promotes a liberal and tolerant society,” said Afzaal Haider Rizvi, Director, Farmers Associates Pakistan and Okara Potato Growers Cooperative.

A leading Pakistani importer of seed potatoes from Jalandhar (Punjab), Rizvi annually imports 100 tonnrs to 200 tonnes of seed potato. He said apart from agriculture, health and urbanisation sectors could promote bilateral cooperation. Participating in the Agro Tech for the first time, Rizvi said concessions by establishments on both sides can end the conflict.

Another delegate, Abdul Rauf Hanjra, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hanjra Farms, an agriculture business and international trading firm at Depalpur (Okara), expected the people on either side of the border to see the fruits of positive side of the cross-border relations.