India has said Pakistan is a member of SAARC and it is expected to contribute constructively to regional connectivity initiatives, including those which it did not support in the last SAARC Summit. In response to a media query China Pakistan Economic Corridor, CPEC, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, CPEC is a two-country initiative, part of which is proposed on Indian territory under Pakistan’s illegal occupation.
On high non-tariff barriers in the region, the spokesperson said, the barriers are not on Pakistan but from it. He said, Pakistan does not allow movement of all importable items from India through Wagah. It allows only 138 items through Wagah.
He said, this is the biggest Non Tariff Barrier (NTB) for thousands of Indian tariff lines which have to be routed through Karachi, raising costs, including for consumers in Pakistan. Apart from this Pakistan has not extended Most Favored Nation status to India even after lapse of close to twenty years since India unilaterally did so which is not in keeping with WTO norms.
