Thaindian News

Attari-Wagah Border (India-Pakistan border), Feb 13 (IANS) India and Pakistan are committed to dismantling all non-tariff barriers to boost bilateral trade and strengthen business and economic relations, commerce ministers of the two countries said Monday.

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, who Monday started his four-day visit to Pakistan, said the government of India was committed to strengthening bilateral business and economic relations with Pakistan.

“All barriers of trade will be dismantled,” Sharma said in a joint media briefing with his Pakistani counterpart Makhdoom Mohammad Amin Fahim after entering Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah road border crossing.

Sharma is leading to Pakistan the largest Indian business delegation comprising chief executives of over 100 companies.

“There is an expressed wish and commitment from both the governments and among us to act and you will see during the course of this visit there will be new bonds of understanding to strengthen the relationship,” Sharma, who also holds ministry of textiles portfolio, said.

Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Fahim said his government was acting fast to remove non-tariff barriers.

“We are moving fast and we will reach our targets,” Fahim said.

The Indian minister, accompanied by a large delegation of government officials, mediapersons and business leaders, is on a reciprocal visit to Pakistan at the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart.

Fahim, accompanied by 80-member business delegation, visited India in September last year.

During that visit, the two ministers agreed to increase bilateral trade to $6 billion in three years from the $2.7 billion mark recorded in 2010-11.

Both ministers said they were hopeful to achieve the targets of increasing the bilateral trade.

(Gyanendra Kumar Keshri can be reached at gyanendra.k@ians.in)