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India to ease tariffs on Pakistan imports

India announced on Friday that it would ease tariffs on a host of Pakistani imports as part of a move to reduce tensions between the two nations.

"We hold that increased trade between the two countries would have its own dynamics and that would impact positively on our bilateral relations," External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh told Parliament.

The move followed last month's summit between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf that collapsed over the issue of Kashmir.

Singh said tariffs would be eased on 50 items imported from Pakistan. Those items included consumer products, household goods, furniture and food.

India granted Pakistan most favoured nation trading status in 1995, but Islamabad has never reciprocated. Pakistan has said it is keen to expand trade with India once outstanding political issues have been resolved.

Following is list of tariff lines:

• Dried mushrooms and truffles
• Almonds fresh or dried in shell
• Shelled almonds-fresh or dried
• Pistachios fresh or dried
• Figs fresh or dried
• Mandarins (including tangerines and satsumas; clemenitines, wilkings and similar citrus hybrids -- fresh and dried
• Frozen fruit and nuts
• Fruit preserved
• Dried apricots
• Other dried fruits
• Unground natural calcium phosphates, natural aluminium, calcium phosphates and phosphatic chalk
• Calcium carbonate
• Glands and other organs, dried, whether or not powdered
• Extracts of glands or other organs or of their secretions
• Dental cements and other dental fillings; bone reconstruction cements
• Chemical contraceptive preparations based on hormones or spermicides
• Lip make-up preparations
• Eye make-up preparations
• Manicure or pedicure preparations
• Powders, whether or not compressed
• Other beauty/make up/ skin care preparations
• Shampoos
• Preparations for permanent waving or straightening hair lacquers
• Yarn used to clean between the teeth (dental floss)
• Pre-shave, shaving or after-shave preparations
• Gelatin
• Raw skins of sheep or lambs with wool on whole leather of bovine skin of a unit surface area not exceeding 28 sq feet
• Other goat/kid skin leather-tanned/retanned, not further prepared
• Printed books, etc.

Additional inputs: PTI

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