Pakistan business community ‘disappointed’ over India’s surgical strikes on terror hubs in Pakistan

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Pakistan business community ‘disappointed’ over India’s surgical strikes on terror hubs in PakistanIndia’s surgical strikes on terror hubs in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) region have hurt the business community in Pakistan and feel it will damage the trade ties between the two nuclear-armed nations.
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The Pakistani business community was expecting normalised relations with India, who now say they are disappointed.

"Today, we feel it was our mistake to think that there can be good business ties with India. We are dismayed and disappointed by PM Narendra Modi's aggressive policies,” Mian Abrar Ahmed, ex-president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told ET.

"Even though Pakistan has not given MFN status to India, if you look at bilateral trade, it's about $2 b annually and 80% is in India's favour. Pakistani businessmen still face a lot of barriers when they export to India,” Amin Hashwani, chief executive at the Hashwani Group, told ET.

This comes at a time when India is mulling over revoking the most favoured nation (MFN) status given to Pakistan about 20 years ago.

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As per a Peterson Institute for International Economics gravity model study, the trade between India and Pakistan could increase to $42 billion if certain roadblocks were removed, especially the unstable political ties.

"We are neighbours and we should resolve the situation with negotiations. War is never a solution. There may be many difference of opinion, but I think business and art should not be kept separate and civil society and establishment must not target these,” said Dawood Usman Jakhura, director of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) Pakistan- Malaysia Business Council.