Geo Business

Pak-India ready to ease visa regulations

NEW DELHI: Pakistan took further steps toward normalization of trade and travel ties with India on Tuesday, agreeing to broaden cooperation on many business fronts with its larger neighbour by February in the latest sign of a thaw in relations between them. At a bilateral meeting in Delhi, the two countries' trade secretaries agreed that Pakistan will notify India by February of a "negative list" of items that it cannot trade with its neighbour, minutes of the meeting showed. "There has been further progress," India's trade secretary Rahul Khullar said at a briefing after the meeting with his Pakistani counterpart. Replacing the current limited "positive list" of items that can be traded with a short list of products that cannot, is a step towards regular trade ties. Earlier this month, Pakistan promised to give India a most favoured nation trade status, a move that would end heavy restrictions on what India is allowed to export across the border. India and Pakistan also agreed to push for easing of visa rules that severely restrict business travel across the heavily armed border. They will look at the feasibility of electricity trading and will open a second road trading post by February. Pakistan's Trade Secretary Zafar Mehmood said the negative list would be drawn up within a couple of months and said an expert panel would decide in January on allowing the trade of oil products. (Reuters)