Pakistan (Common Wealth) _ Pakistan would welcome a resurgence of commerce with India, but State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar said there was no chance of that happening because of the country’s strained relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Pakistan is in the grip of a severe economic crisis, and improved trade relations would be beneficial, as existing cross-border flows are barely a trickle. According to Indian media, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel, commerce between India and Pakistan reached $1.35 billion between April and December 2022, compared to $87 billion with China.
Khar said she supported trade as a means of repairing ties, but she cautioned that it was impossible to deal with a Hindu nationalist government in New Delhi whose support was “based on dividing India between Hindus and Muslims.”
“I don’t think there’s any scope to do anything with a very belligerent [government],” Khar said when asked about a trade reset in an interview with POLITICO. “The particular party and individuals in power now believe it is in their best interests not to solve, but to exacerbate, the problem.”
The rude discourse has increased dramatically in recent months. Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari labeled Modi “the butcher of Gujarat” after Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar dubbed Pakistan the “epicenter of terrorism.”
Nonetheless, Khar stated that Islamabad was eager to restart talks if India modified its tune.
Tomorrow, if they chose to be statesmanlike and [want] a legacy of peace, they will have not only an eager but an overjoyed partner in Pakistan, she remarked.
India, on the other hand, believes Pakistan must take the initiative and cut ties with terrorist organizations. In December, Jaishankar added, “My advice is: Please clean up your act, and please try to be a good neighbor.”
