Govt keen on Indo-Pak tea trade

Union commerce ministry will make efforts to remove hurdles at the Indo-Pakistan border to facilitate tea trade, a top government official said in Coonoor on Saturday.

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"We will apply our mind and discuss (the issue) with the foreign offices of both the countries," L V Saptharishi, additional secretary, commerce ministry, said in response to appeals made by tea traders during an interactive presentation by a visiting Pakistan delegation.

However, he said, there were various issues that needed to be resolved at government levels.

Pakistan Tea Association chariman Saeed Ahmed Khawaja said about 3.7 million kg of tea was imported to Pakistan from India.

Responding to a suggestion that Kochi and Mumbai ports be prepared to facilitate daily trade between Pakistan and India, Saptharishi said this was one of the major issues the surface ministry was contemplating.

The traders pointed out that teas were transported to Nepal and Bangladesh through border areas.

In his presentation, Khawaja said the time had come for the two countries to shed their differences and there was no reason "why we cannot strive towards one market for Asia or the sub-continent".

There was big scope for expansion of tea trade as could be gauged from Pakistan's annual import of 130 million kg and what was needed was an extra effort, he added.