KARACHI - It will be a case of intellectual dishonesty if our experts continue to vehemently favour granting of MFN to India while ignoring deliberately the case of Pakistani cement and textile which have been blocked by Indian government through Pakistan specific NTBs.
The cement industry in Pakistan qualifies for the status of being a targeted victim of Indian NTBs as no other country could be at advantage of supplying cement to Indian markets which have demand whereas the Indian cement industry does not have the capacity.
While there is a clear division between manufacturers and traders and later being vocal for MFN in Pakistan while on Indian side one mostly see bigger goods manufacturing group waiting and advocating same. This on one hand, clearly shows the designs of Indian government and proves fear of Pakistani industry on the other.
Interestingly, the argument of MFN status to India is mostly supported by the traders’ lobby in Pakistan while the Indian enthusiasts of MFN are mostly the manufacturing industry like TATA, Birla and Mittal etc.
According to expert mostly cement manufacturing plants in Pakistan located in the northern part of country cannot export by sea due to high inland freight whereas limited capacity of train allow limited exports.
He said that India is already importing clinker and gypsum from Pakistan by road through trucks; therefore cement can also be exported similarly. Exporting cement by road is feasible for Pakistani exporters as well as for the Indian buyers in bordering provinces as they will get higher quality cement at much cheaper rates, he added.
Sources in cement industry disclose that obtaining quality certification from Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is a major issue for Pakistani exporters as BIS issues licenses for a year or two years to the exporters after visiting the factory premises and carrying out lab tests. BIS conducts a mandatory quality inspection visit once in two years’ time before it can issue renewal. He added that Indian inspecting authorities use delaying tactics and last scheduled inspection visit of BIS representative to Pakistan has been delayed for more than nine months as all Indian officials have to seek approval from their Ministry of Interior and the process takes a long time.
The government had proposed to the Indians to allow Pakistani trucks to carry cement to the Indian side of the border where transhipment should be carried out to Indian trucks, but they rejected this proposal on the grounds of absence of parking area on their side.
The facility has now been developed by Indians close to the border which can be used for transhipment area. It should become operational now if the Indians are sincere in free trade, a cement manufacturer said.
He claimed that Pakistani cement is better in quality than Indian cement and also cheaper. The Indian government creates hurdles in free trade to protect its local industries, he added.
In 2008 some of the Indian cement manufacturers as per Indian press reports demanded of Indian govt to impose ban on Pakistani cement for being a security threat. Pakistani experts believe that since those Indian businessmen who show interest in Pakistani products the Govt very viciously targets them for being involved in anti-state activities.
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