Pakistan’s top businessman, Mian Mohammed Mansha, says it is time for Pakistan and India to mend their relations and revive their trade.
Mansha, who was named in a Credit Suisse Leaks exposé earlier this year, recently told The Indian Express that the two nations have “many synergies” that can come into play once trade resumes.
“I feel very passionately that we need to get our things sorted out with India. Now whatever the issues that are impeding, let them be there. But once they come to one another’s country, through trade, tourism – religious tourism or normal tourism — I think the doors will start opening,” he said.
Mansha has advised Pakistan and India to resolve the Kashmir issue with “small steps” to “bring temperatures down.” In terms of a wider spectrum, he also talked about opening up Bollywood to Pakistani actors and the Indian Premier League (IPL) to Pakistani cricketers.
The 75-year-old industrialist, who is widely regarded as the most important voice in Pakistan’s business sector, urged for the restoration of commerce with India during a session of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry earlier this year.
Talking to the Indian daily, Mansha reiterated his remarks from that meeting, saying that if India could continue to purchase from China despite border concerns, there was no reason for Pakistan to not restart business with its neighboring rival. “I think there’s nothing better than having good relations with your neighbors. You can’t change neighbors,” he added.
He reinforced his arguments by saying, “I am a businessman. That’s why I say that if something is cheaper in India, why should I buy that from another country? The transportation cost is less (from India).”
“There are so many products that we could buy. We (the Nishat Group) make Hyundai cars. Hyundai India is very big. We could buy some parts cheaper from India, than buying from China, for example. And you are also trading with China in such a large way. Your imports from China are huge, and if you look at it, you also have issues with China on the issue of territories and all that,” he explained.
Pakistan had banned trade with India in August 2019 following Prime Minister Modi’s decision to repeal the statute granting occupied Kashmir special status or autonomy.
In this regard, Mansha commented, “I think we need to move ahead on the resolution of the Kashmir issue, we could take small, small steps. I do think we need to lower the temperature.”
He propounded rekindling cross-LoC trade and the bus services that had allowed families on either side to interact and do business with each other. He also suggested routing flights through Sharjah for tourism in Kashmir.
Regarding overall trade, Mansha advised both countries to start with cotton and cement. He said, “I am in the cement business. We have one big plant, in Chakwal district (Pakistan’s Punjab) where Mr. Manmohan Singh was born. We have even preserved the school that he attended. You don’t have limestone in Indian Punjab and areas around the border, so it is much cheaper to buy Pakistani cement. We used to export a lot of cement to India, till all this trading abruptly stopped.”
“So it is not a bad idea if we could import cotton, and we could export some cement to India,” he expounded.
The industrialist continued, “I also deal with cotton textile companies, where we want to use Indian cotton. And we also grow a lot of cotton and now we are buying some cotton from Afghanistan, and from so many other countries that we import. Our cotton seasons are slightly different. When you grow cotton, we don’t grow cotton at that time. It would be very good if when our season comes, you could buy it from us. And when yours comes, we could import it from you, rather than paying carrying charges from other countries.”
Mansha also encouraged investments from both sides. “For example, if Tata invests in Pakistan, you will have employees here, and I think interconnections do build up,” he said.
He emphasized the importance of the India-Pakistan cultural partnership and pointed out that “Indian movies (were) coming to Pakistan, and Pakistani dramas were being seen in India. Some of our actors got better chances in Bollywood, but the biggest thing we need to start is that our cricketers should be playing in your IPL tournament. And yours could come to the PSL.”
“Cricket is a big business now,” he concluded.
