Landmark visa pact stars Indo-Pak ties in 2012
24 Dec 2012 6:14 AM IST
Pakistan and India took several steps to improve their ties this year, including through the signing of a landmark visa pact, even as Islamabad struggled to put its relationship with Washington on an even keel while seeking a greater role for itself in Afghanistan ahead of the pullout of foreign forces.
As the year drew to a close, Pakistan and India implemented the new visa agreement, whose signing had been delayed from May to September, largely due to opposition from Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
The pact introduced new categories for group tourist and pilgrim visas and eased restrictions on young children and senior citizens.
As the Pakistan People's Party-led government began gearing up for the general election scheduled to be held sometime between March and May next year, it also put the finishing touches to the process for granting Most Favoured Nation-status to India. After a series of contradictory statements from officials and ministers earlier in the year, Pakistan government said it was committed to phasing out a negative list regime for trade and giving India MFN-status by the beginning of next year.
The announcement angered some trade lobbies, especially in the textiles, automobile, pharmaceutical and agricultural sectors, which mounted a concerted campaign in the last few months of the year and urged the government to liberalise trade relations with India in phases.
The move to give MFN-status to India was also opposed by the Defa-e-Pakistan Council, an alliance of extremist and religious groups cobbled together by Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Mohammed Saeed.
Through the year, India and Pakistan had a series of meetings as part of the bilateral dialogue process that resumed in 2011 after a gap of over two years in the wake of the terror attacks on Mumbai by an LeT team in November 2008.
As the year drew to a close, Pakistan and India implemented the new visa agreement, whose signing had been delayed from May to September, largely due to opposition from Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
The pact introduced new categories for group tourist and pilgrim visas and eased restrictions on young children and senior citizens.
As the Pakistan People's Party-led government began gearing up for the general election scheduled to be held sometime between March and May next year, it also put the finishing touches to the process for granting Most Favoured Nation-status to India. After a series of contradictory statements from officials and ministers earlier in the year, Pakistan government said it was committed to phasing out a negative list regime for trade and giving India MFN-status by the beginning of next year.
The announcement angered some trade lobbies, especially in the textiles, automobile, pharmaceutical and agricultural sectors, which mounted a concerted campaign in the last few months of the year and urged the government to liberalise trade relations with India in phases.
The move to give MFN-status to India was also opposed by the Defa-e-Pakistan Council, an alliance of extremist and religious groups cobbled together by Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Mohammed Saeed.
Through the year, India and Pakistan had a series of meetings as part of the bilateral dialogue process that resumed in 2011 after a gap of over two years in the wake of the terror attacks on Mumbai by an LeT team in November 2008.
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