Context
India on Monday said it wishes to see a prosperous Pakistan. The statement was made by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a meeting with Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim on Monday. Fahim is on a five day visit to India to discuss bilateral economic cooperation. In the meeting, Singh backed efforts to increase trade volume to $6 billion in the next four years. It is also expected that India will drop its veto in the World Trade Organization meeting to allow the European Union to export duty free Pakistani goods to help the country recover from devastating floods. Pakistan is expected to reciprocate by lifting trade barriers.
Despite having great economic potential, India and Pakistan have often been at loggerheads with each other. Current trade figures between the two countries are a paltry $2.7 billion.
