ISLAMABAD: (CNI) Pakistan on Thursday clarified that it has no plans to resume trade ties with India that have been “non-existent” since 2019 when the Indian government revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. To repeal Article 370 of the Constitution was repealed.
The clarification from Pakistan’s foreign office came days after new foreign minister Ishaq Dar said in London that Pakistan would seriously consider reviving trade ties with India that have been suspended since August 2019.
In August 2019, India suspended Article 370 granting special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir and divided it into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
At the weekly briefing, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch was asked to comment on reports on the possibility of resuming trade relations with India.
“Pakistan-India trade relations have been non-existent since 2019 when India took illegal steps in illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir … there has been no change in Pakistan’s position on this,” Baloch said.
Foreign Minister Dar, during a press conference in London on March 23, highlighted the eagerness of Pakistan’s business community to resume trade activities with India, signaling a possible shift in diplomatic stance towards its neighbour.
Pakistan downgraded its ties with India after the Indian Parliament suspended Article 370 on 5 August 2019, a decision Islamabad believed damaged the atmosphere for dialogue between the neighbours.
Pakistan has been insisting that the onus is on India to mend relations and has insisted that it nullify its “unilateral” actions in Kashmir as a precondition for starting talks.
India rejected the proposal and made it clear to Pakistan that Jammu and Kashmir and the entire Union Territory of Ladakh are integral and indivisible parts of the country.
New Delhi has also asserted that constitutional measures taken by the Indian government to ensure socio-economic development and good governance in the central region of Jammu and Kashmir are internal affairs of India.
It has maintained that it wants normal neighborly relations with Pakistan and insists that Islamabad has a responsibility to create an environment that is free from terrorism and hostility.(CNI)
