-Finance Minister says approval will be given after consultation with allied parties
-Adds government’s decision will be based on supply position
-PM had earlier ruled out the said plan
By Anzail Amin
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said Wednesday the federal government will consider importing goods from India as the cash-strapped nation looks for options to cushion the impact of the devastating floods.
The idea to import edible goods from India was first floated by the finance minister Monday, when the country’s death toll crossed 1,100, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced, and thousands of acres of crops were destroyed.
In a statement issued on Twitter yesterday, the finance minister said that more than one international agency has approached the government to allow them to bring food items from India through the land border.
“The govt will take the decision to allow imports or not based on supply shortage position, after consulting its coalition partners and key stakeholders,” Miftah said.
Miftah’s statement comes after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif — while speaking to international media personnel — ruled out the possibility of importing goods from India.
The PM virtually ruled out the possibility of vegetable imports from India to overcome shortages caused by devastating floods, saying the two sides needed to talk about the human rights situation in India-held Kashmir. PM Shehbaz, however, said that he was ready to have a dialogue with his Indian counterpart — Narendra Modi — over the issue. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce has decided to import onions and tomatoes from Afghanistan and Iran to control soaring prices in the country.
In response to the finance minister’s proposal, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said that his party will not let the flood emergency be an opportunity to open trade with India.
Taking to Twitter, Fawad said that the actions of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are not only anti-Muslim but also against humanitarian values.
“Pakistan-India trade cannot take place with these actions in place.
We strongly oppose such decisions. Loyalty with the blood of Kashmiris is a must,” he wrote.
Pakistan formally downgraded its trade relations with India in August 2019 to the level of Israel with which Islamabad has no trade ties at all. The decision had come as a reaction to India’s decision to revoke Article 370 of its constitution that granted occupied Kashmir a special status.
