Comments
New liberalised visa regime between India and Pakistan is expected to almost double the bilateral trade from the existing $2.5 billion within a year, SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry said today.
“Within one year of liberalisation of visa norms, the trade volume would jump to almost double,” chamber’s President Vikramjit Singh Sahney said.
The visa liberalisation would give a quantum leap to the trust factor, promote people to people contacts and hurdle free trade between two countries, he said in a statement.
The present trade volume was insignificant at $2.5 billion as compared with the potential availability, he added.
India and Pakistan, yesterday, signed the much-awaited liberalised visa agreement, introducing for the first time group tourist and pilgrim visas, separate visa for businessmen and visa on arrival for those over 65 years of age.
The new pact, signed between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik, replaces a 38-year-old restrictive visa agreement and will pave the way for time-bound visa approval and greater people to people contacts and boost trade.
Comments
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.