The Federal Government is soon going to make its final decision regarding importing food items from India to meet the shortfall caused by floods.
This was revealed by the Federal Minister of Finance and Revenue, Miftah Ismail in a tweet.
He said that several international agencies and donors have approached the government to allow the import of food items from India through the land border. However, the government has not made a final decision on the matter.
The tweet read, “The govt will take the decision to allow imports or not based on supply shortage position, after consulting its coalition partners & key stakeholders.”
On the other hand, well-informed sources told Propakistani that Foreign Ministry had rejected the proposal to appoint a ‘Trade Minister’ in Delhi Pakistan Embassy. The Ministry said that it would not be wise to send a trade minister as Pakistan has suspended all trade with India, well-informed sources told Propakistani.
Sources further revealed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had already approved the appointment of Trade Minister and had shortlisted Qamar Zaman for the job.
However, it is to be noted that the incumbent government has shown interest in resuming trade with India as it would be more cost-effective. In a previous press conference, Miftah Ismail had said that government could consider importing vegetables and other edible items from India to facilitate the people in the wake of the destruction of standing crops in the country due to recent floods.
Pakistan announced the suspension of its trade ties with India in August 2019. The decision was made after India revoked article 370 of its constitution which allowed special status to the territory of occupied Kashmir.
