India declines to touch upon Pakistan’s flip-flop on bilateral commerce

India on Friday declined to touch upon Pakistan’s flip-flop on plans to go for restricted imports of sugar and cotton from the nation.
“We have seen reports on this. But as is evident, we are not the right party to whom this question should be directed at,” mentioned Arindam Bagchi, Spokesperson within the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
His response got here following questions on the problem at a media briefing.
In a volte-face, Pakistan’s Cabinet on Thursday rejected the proposal of a high-powered committee to import cotton and sugar from India.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi mentioned there will be no normalisation of ties till New Delhi reverses its choice to revoke the particular standing of Jammu and Kashmir.
The somersault got here a day after the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) below newly-appointed Finance Minister Hammad Azhar on Wednesday determined to purchase the 2 key gadgets from India, lifting an almost two-year-long ban on their import from the neighbouring nation.

Asked whether or not India is planning to revive the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) standing to Pakistan, Bagchi mentioned he doesn’t have any info on it.
India withdrew the MFN standing to Pakistan following the Pulwama terror assault in 2019.
To a query on whether or not there was any interplay between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterpart Qureshi in Dushanbe on the sidelines of a convention, the MEA spokesperson mentioned he was not conscious of any such interplay with the Pakistani delegation.

Both Jaishankar and Qureshi had been on the Tajikistan capital earlier this week to attend the Heart of Asia convention.
The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process is an initiative aimed toward bringing collectively all the important thing stakeholders to carry lasting peace and stability in war-ravaged Afghanistan.