Islamabad: It is widely being expected that Pakistan on Friday will grant the status of Most Favored Nation (MFN) to India in order to receive considerable allowance in trade from New Delhi. According to media reports a special cabinet briefing will be given by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after which an exact decision will be taken.
This decision of granting India as the MFN status was suggested by Khurram Dastagir who is a Commerce Minister. He suggested this in January and the reason behind giving India that status was to gain access of 250 to 300 items from India in much lower duties.
After his suggestion the plan was not immediately carried out because of some of the stakeholders had raised questions as their issues of giving allowance to India were ignored. However, it was then announced that the decision will be carried out in the mid of February.
This delay in the decision was the reason of the visit of Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma in Pakistan. This granting of MFN status was a part of the dialogue made in January.