Pakistan yet to award most favoured nation status to India

India has already granted this status to all WTO members including Pakistan.

New Delhi, Jul 31: Parliament was informed on Monday that Pakistan is yet to award the most favoured nation (MFN) status to India and it maintains a negative list of 1,209 items which are not permitted to be imported from India.

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply that the government has not taken any decision to review the MFN status accorded to Pakistan, so far. As per a World Trade Organisation (WTO) rule, every member of WTO requires to accord this status to other member countries.

India has already granted this status to all WTO members including Pakistan. Under MFN, a WTO member country is obliged to treat other trading nation in a non-discriminatory manner, especially with regard to customs duty and other levies.

"However, Pakistan is yet to transition fully to MFN status for India," Sitharaman said. The neighbouring country allows only 137 products to be exported from India through Wagah/Attari border land route, she added.

The bilateral trade between the countries stood at USD 2.28 billion in 2016-17. India mainly exports cotton, dyes, chemicals, vegetables and iron and steel wehile it imports fruits, cement, leather, chemicals and spices.

PTI