Pakistan opens up India too should remove trade irritants/No end to terror/Need to focus on intelligence

EDITORIALS

Pakistan opens up

India too should remove trade irritants

PAKISTAN’S surprise decision on Wednesday to liberalise trade with India augurs well for peace and prosperity in the region. Persistent opposition from hardliners and industrialists had stymied trade talks between the commerce ministers of the two countries last month. The troubled government of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has shown unusual courage and vision by overcoming domestic hurdles and giving trade a chance to promote peace. Hitherto, Islamabad had allowed trade in only 1,963 items placed on a “positive list”. Now trade will be open in any number of products except the 1,209 sensitive items kept on a “negative list”, which too would be scrapped by the end of this year if India too shows a positive gesture.

The breakthrough in trade talks happened after India dropped its objections to the European Union cutting tariffs on Pakistani textiles last year. Pakistan responded by reviving the talk of granting India “most favoured nation” (MFN) status, which is a term popularised by the World Trade Organisation to convey that all members of the WTO will treat each other equally in matters of tariffs. India granted MFN status to Pakistan way back in 1996 but the latter has hesitated as industries in Pakistan fear their market would be swamped by cheaper Indian goods. The balance of trade is heavily in India’s favour. Due to pressure from industrialists the Pakistani leadership has increased the number of items on the negative list from the original 650 to 1,200.

The policy of delinking trade from the sensitive issues of terror and Kashmir has proved beneficial. The bilateral trade, currently valued at $2.7 billion, can shoot up, given the cultural similarities and people-to-people warmth between the two countries. Delhi is considering allowing Pakistani investments. To build trust tariff barriers may have to be eased. The Wagah border may have to expand faster to cope with the rush of goods and people. Given the limitations of a single land route, more pre-partition road links will have to be revived. This may boost the economy of the war-ravaged states of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan.


No end to terror

Need to focus on intelligence

THE national Capital has been saved from a major terror strike with the arrest of two persons suspected to be terrorists associated with the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba. That the arrested men are Indians and had come back after getting training from across the border shows that terrorist training camps continue to function in Pakistan. One fails to understand how these camps are still functional despite the Pakistan government having pledged not to allow its territory to be used to launch terror strikes in India or any other country. The arrested persons were part of a major plan to strike terror in Delhi on or around Divali. The Lashkar’s idea, perhaps, is that India can be easily weakened by not allowing it to have communal peace. The fact that it continues to get local recruits for implementing its destructive designs is unnerving.

Obviously, the country’s intelligence-gathering network has played a significant role in getting the terror plot foiled. Perhaps, strict vigil on terror modules after last month’s attack on an Israeli Embassy car has led to the success in nabbing the misguided persons. This is what should be done to fight the menace.

Since terrorism remains as potent a threat to peace as it has been in the past, it is necessary to have a fresh look at the need for an agency like the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC). Politicising the NCTC idea will harm the country’s interests. A way must be found to answer the questions being raised relating to the federal character of the nation so that the NCTC soon becomes a reality. Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram is of the view that the NCTC must have the power to arrest terror suspects so that it can function effectively. He perhaps has a point as a toothless NCTC may prove to be only an addition to the number of agencies already functioning for fighting terror.