Thaindian News

Islamabad, April 20 (IANS) India has offered to sell Pakistan electricity at cheap rates and the proposal would come up for discussion at an upcoming meeting of the commerce secretaries of the two neighbours, Pakistan’s Commerce Secretary Zafar Mehmood Wednesday said.

The commerce secretaries of India and Pakistan are scheduled to meet in Islamabad April 27-28.

Speaking on a variety of issues related to India and Pakistan, Mehmood told reporters outside the Parliament House here that there was no Indian proposal under consideration by Islamabad for grant of transit facility to India-Afghanistan trade. “We have not received any application from the Indian side for transit trade,” Online quoted the commerce secretary as saying.

While stating that India has declared Pakistan as a favourable country for investment, he said: “We have some reservation that’s why we have not given any status to India.”

All the issues would be discussed with India during the forthcoming talks, he said.

On the issue of talks between India and Pakistan, Mehmood said talks with India were heading “in very cordial way”.

Talks between both countries were halted in 2008 “and we want to resume dialogue from the same stage”, he said.

Declaring India a major obstacle in trade concessions offered by the European Union to Pakistan as well as easy access for Pakistani products to European Union, he said EU is taking up the issue with India. Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim has also written to Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma in this regard.

He said India needs to accept trade relations between Pakistan and EU.

Trade links between EU and Pakistan would not cause any negative effect on Indian’s foreign trade, Mehmood stated.