November 17, 2017

ICRIER in collaboration with the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) organised a conference titled India Pakistan Trade Continues despite Tensions and the Road Ahead on November 17, 2017, in Kathmandu, Nepal. The conference participants included well known experts and scholars as well as business representatives from the two countries. The conference was part of ICRIER’s project on “India-Pakistan Trade” that endeavours to analyse the reasons why the huge gap between potential and actual trade between India and Pakistan remains despite substantial trade normalisation set in motion in 2012.
The conference discussions were structured around two main themes – the current status of India-Pakistan bilateral trade, and connectivity and future prospects. The presentation by the study team at ICRIER focused on recent trends in bilateral trade between India and Pakistan, top commodities traded between the two countries, and an analysis of three Indian commodities whose exports to Pakistan have declined the most. The presentation noted that there has been very little increase in India’s exports to Pakistan after the change in the latter’s import policy in 2012. The presentation also included findings on transaction costs of trading across different modes. The presentation by the research team at SDPI gave a perspective from Pakistan as to what the major impediments while trading with India are. The presentation identified current obstacles and hurdles in the way of normalising India-Pakistan trade relations. The presentations were followed by a roundtable discussion on enhanced visa restrictions, persisting infrastructure and connectivity deficit along with poor awareness amongst traders with regard to non-tariff barriers. The issue of the impact of the goods and services tax (GST) introduced by India from July 2017 on India-Pakistan trade was also raised. The conference ended on a positive note with participants emphasising the importance of B2B engagement in confidence building and keeping dialogue channels open along with encouraging studies on bilateral trade that would help address impediments encountered by businesspersons in the two countries.

July 27, 2016

Enhancing Trade in Health Sector between India and Pakistan July 27, 2016. The conference on ‘Enhancing Trade in Health Sector between India and Pakistan’ was organised on July 27, 2016 at New Delhi. The conference was part of a research project that ICRIER is presently undertaking with the objective of identifying the key reform measures needed to facilitate trade in the health services between India and Pakistan. The research partner for this is the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Islamabad. The findings of the study were presented at the conference by Nisha Taneja, Professor, ICRIER and Shehryar Khan, Research Fellow, SDPI. Making special remarks at the conference, Arun Kumar Panda, Additional Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, highlighted the importance of India as a medical tourism hub and the initiatives being taken by the government in this regard. The guest remarks in the inaugural session were made by B. K. Rao, Chairman, ASSOCHAM Council on Healthcare and Hospitals and Syed Yawar Ali, Co-Chair, India-Pakistan Joint Business Forum.
Speakers in the first session Bilateral Trade in Health Sector: Current Scenario included Rashid Latif, owner of Hameed Latif Hospital, Lahore, Neelam Mohan, Director, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Liver Transplantation, Medanta, Hassaan Bashir, CEO, Ali Medical Center, Islamabad, Raj Raina, General Manager, Marketing, Apollo Hospitals Group, Sami Ullah Khan Durrani, CEO, Tread Pharmaceuticals Pakistan Limited, Shehla Javed Akram, President, Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Islamabad and Rabia Manzoor, Research Associate, SDPI. The discussion highlighted the fact that even though India has a comparative advantage in manufacturing and trade of pharmaceuticals and Pakistan has a highly competitive medical equipment sector, the two countries have not been able to exploit their trade potential to the full due to presence of trade rigidities. Participants also noted the challenges associated with logistics and visas that are faced by patients from Pakistan.
The second session, Way Forward for Enhancing Trade in Health Sector between India and Pakistan, was moderated by Nisha Taneja, Professor, ICRIER and the speakers included Bhupinder Singh Bhalla, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Anil Ganeriwala, Joint Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, Javed Akram, Vice Chancellor, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University, Umang Chaturvedi, Group President Corporate Affairs, Fortis, Ravi Wig, Former President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Umer Bhatti, Ministry of Commerce, Pakistan, and Mubarak Zeb Khan, Business Lead, DAWN Daily. The highly interactive discussion emphasised that given the humanitarian and social focus of the health sector, there is great need to delink this sector from the political normalisation process between the two countries. This sector has the potential to build confidence for more comprehensive bilateral talks.

2-3rd February, 2015
Longchamp Hall, Taj Mansingh Hotel, New Delhi
The keynote address at the conference was delivered by Mr. Yashwant Sinha, Former Union Minister for Finance and External Affairs. Mr. Sinha also released the book titled “India-Pakistan Trade- Strengthening Economic Relations”, edited by Dr. Nisha Taneja and Dr. Sanjib Pohit.  A multitude of issues were discussed at the conference, with rigorous sessions on informal trade between Indian and Pakistan, non-tariff barriers in trade, the difficulties and challenges of the visa regime, the role of the media in the India-Pakistan relationship, telecommunication networks and energy cooperation. The Special Address was delivered by Mr. Abdul Basit, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India. The conference was well-attended by parliamentarians, policy-makers, academics, chambers of commerce representatives and the media.
The Special Address was delivered by Abdul Basit, Pakistan's High Commissioner to India. [Speech]
[Conference Video]
[Programme and presentations]
[Summary of Proceedings ]

21-22 January, 2014
Silver Oak, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

The keynote address at the conference was delivered by Chief Guest Rajeev Kher, Special Secretary, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India and G. K. Chadha, President, South Asian University and former Vice-chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The Report on the 1st Trade Perception Survey was released at the conference. The focus of the conference on “Normalizing India-Pakistan Trade Relations” was to discuss issues regarding enhancement of trade between India and Pakistan through trade in following sectors: Agriculture, Automobile, Pharmaceuticals and Energy. The findings of the research studies conducted under the project related to these sectors were also presented and discussed at the conference. The conference was well-attended by parliamentarians, policy-makers, academics, chambers of commerce representatives and the media.
The Special Address was delivered by Ishrat Husain, Dean & Director, IBA and Former Governor, State Bank of Pakistan. [Speech]
The Valedictory Address was delivered by Sujatha Singh (Foreign Secretary, India). [Speech]
[Conference Video]
[Programme and presentations]
[Summary of Proceedings ]