New Delhi, Apr 6: Commerce Secretaries of India and Pakistan will meet in Islamabad on April 27 and 28, the second structured high-level interaction following resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue on all comprehensive bilateral issues.
The meeting comes on the heels of talks between the home secretaries of the two countries here last month followed by an informal meeting between the Prime Ministers of the two countries on the sidelines of India-Pakistan cricket World Cup semi-final match in Mohali.
“By the end of April in Islamabad,” Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said when asked about the meeting between Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar and his Pakistani counterpart Zafar Mehmood.
She was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a Commerce Ministry and Exim Bank function here.
The trade talks, suspended after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, are scheduled to be held on April 27 and 28, a senior Commerce Ministry official said.
He said while there is no specific agenda, the commerce secretaries would try to iron out outstanding issues affecting bilateral trade and the talks are expected to give boost to trade across the borders.
“Besides, it depends on what they (Pakistan) want,” the official said.
India-Pakistan trade is just about USD two billion in the absence of right political atmosphere. India's total global trade is over USD 500 billion.
The trade balance is mostly in favour of India and Pakistan has been complaining of non-tariff barriers from New Delhi.
Home Secretary G K Pillai and his Pakistani counterpart Chaudhary Qamar Zaman met here on March 28-29. The talks were termed, “extremely positive” and in the “right direction”.
They marked the resumption of high-level discussions on all bilateral issues more than two years after the composite dialogue process was suspended following the Mumbai terror attacks. PTI
