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Indian Saarc team asked to get cotton import ban removed

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Pakistani delegates to the recently concluded general assembly meeting of Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Male told the Indian delegation that to save the organisation from disintegration, it was imperative that Indian government should forthwith stop its propaganda about the quality of Pakistani rice and remove the ban on import of Pakistani cotton to India.

Iftikhar Ali Malik, a former vice-president of FPCCI who was one of the delegates in an interview with Business Recorder said on return here that the Indians were told in plain words that the false Indian propaganda campaign against Pakistan would only result in a rupture in trade relations between the two countries. It was emphasised that private sector in India should take up the issue of ban on cotton imports from Pakistan in all seriousness, if it desired to promote trade relations with Pakistan.

On its way back home, the Pakistani delegation stopped over in Sri Lanka where they met members of Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and discussed the prospects of increased trade with Pakistan.

The Pakistani delegation comprised Jamil Mehboob Magoon, Vice-President, Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ilyas Ahmed Bilour, Iftikhar Ali Malik, Amanullah Khan Mohmand, and Waheed Khan.