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Dubai: Najam Sethi spokes on the debate over Indo-Pakistan trade links.
"You know this debate about more trade with India it's not a new debate, the Indians have always said that we need to build more trade between ourselves as a confidence building measure, so that eventually we can talk about the more contentious issues like Kashmir. The Pakistanis have put it the other way round, they've said let's finish Kashmir first and then we'll talk about trade, because at the end of the day India will probably benefit more from trade than Pakistan... the way the two economies are currently structured.
"The Indians have not been playing ball with Pakistan over the question of the gas pipeline, and the Pakistanis have been quite frustrated.
"I think both political parties, the Muslim League and the PPP are keen on developing a good relationship with India, and one which is not necessarily at the cost of Kashmir, that is to say Kashmir may not be solved to Pakistan's full satisfaction in the short term, while better relations with India improve. I think that the most important factor here is that perhaps the Pakistani army under General Musharraf has come round to this point of view, which is why the export of militancy to Kashmir has been halted."
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