"Pak, India have a lot to gain from mutual trade" says Pak PM but trade & terror can't go hand-in-hand for India

Islamabad, June 1: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that Islamabad is looking to forge partnerships for its geo-economics strategy, especially within the region, which apparently includes New Delhi. At the same time, Sharif has spoken on Kashmir and demanded restoring Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, more than five times since he took over in April.

 

He was responding to a question about trade with India in an interview with Turkish media outlet Anadolu Agency ahead of his three-day visit to the country, Dawn reported. However, Sharif arrived in Turkey for the visit on Tuesday. "Pakistan and India have a lot to gain from mutually beneficial trade," he said as quoted by Dawn. "We are cognisant of the economic dividends that can be accrued from a healthy trade activity with India," the Prime Minister said further.

 

It is to be noted that after coming to power in Pakistan in early April, Shehbaz Sharif has written a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing his desire for peaceful ties with India and the resolution of all the outstanding issues. As reported earlier, in a meeting of the cabinet of newly appointed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, it was decided that the position of Trade Minister in India would be reinstated amid severe economic crisis occurred in Pakistan.

 

In his first address to the National Assembly after being sworn in, Sharif had said, "We want good ties with India but durable peace is not possible until the Kashmir dispute is resolved."

 

However, for India, bilateral trade and terrorism that is backed by Pakistan cannot go hand-in-hand. On one hand, the neighboring country wants to resume trade but don't want to give up the Kashmir issue. India has been keeping a firm stance that Jammu and Kashmir is, was, and will be an integral part of India.