Business

'Goods Transport Via Rail Could Boost Indo-Pak Trade'

India wants to explore the option of carrying out more trade with Pakistan through the rail route as existing restrictions on the land route and the high cost of sea transportation are a hindrance to bilateral trade.

"In our discussions with businesses in Amritsar, we were given to understand that if the trains running between India and Pakistan became more regular, they could be used by traders as a viable option for shipping their goods," Commerce Ministry Joint Secretary Arvind Mehta said at a seminar on non-tariff barriers organised by the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, recently.

Interestingly, while Pakistan allows only 137 items to be traded through the Attari-Wagah land route, no such barriers exist on paper for supplies via the rail route. The railways have the potential of taking on much of the trade happening via the sea-route, which is expensive for traders and increases costs manifold. The idea, however, is at a conceptual stage, as the trade dialogue between the two countries has to restart before new issues can be discussed.