Enhancing India-Pakistan Trade 
Date: February 2-3, 2015 
Venue: Longchamp Hall, Hotel Taj Man Singh, New Delhi
[Summary Proceedings]

Programme

Day 1: February 2, 2015 (Monday)

Session 1: India-Pakistan Trade Normalisation: Prospects and Challenges

Chair – Ishrat Husain, Dean & Director, IBA Karachi

Speakers:

• Nisha Taneja, Professor, ICRIER [Download Presentation]
• Muchkund Dubey, President, Council for Social Development, New Delhi
• Abid Qaiyum Suleri, Executive Director, SDPI, Pakistan
• A. M. Gondane, Joint Secretary, SAARC, Ministry of External Affairs, India
• S. A. Hasnain, Visiting Fellow, Vivekananda International Foundation
• S. Akbar Zaidi, Political Economist, Karachi
• Neelam Deo, Director, Gateway House, Mumbai

Session 2: Informal Trade: Why Does it Continue to Persist?

Chair – Nisha Taneja, Professor, ICRIER [Download Presentation]

Speakers:

• Vaqar Ahmed, Deputy Executive Director, SDPI, Pakistan
• Manoj Pant, Professor, JNU
• Manab Majumdar, Assistant Secretary General, FICCI
• Bipul Chatterjee, Director, CUTS
• Ram Upendra Das, Professor, RIS, New Delhi

Session 3: Non-Tariff Barriers: Real and Perceived

Chair  – Sanjay Kathuria, Lead Economist, Regional Integration, World Bank

Speakers:

• Selim Raihan, Executive Director, South Asian Network on Economic Modelling, Dhaka [Download Presentation]
• Majyd Aziz, Former President, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry [Download Presentation]
• I. N. Mukherjee, Former Professor, JNU
• Muhammad Irfan Tarar, Minister Trade, Pakistan High CommissionT. S. Vishwanath, Principal Adviser, APJ-SLG Law Offices, New Delhi
• Syed Turab Hussain, Head of Department of Economics, Lahore University of Management Sciences

Session 4: Energy Cooperation

Chair –Ijaz Nabi, Country Director, International Growth Centre,Pakistan 

Speakers:

• Narendra Taneja, Convener BJP Energy Cell and Energy Expert and Commentator
• Rajiv Mishra, Power Trading Corporation (PTC), New Delhi [Download Presentation]
• Rakesh Kumar, Director (Power Systems), Solar Energy Corporation of India
• Pradeep Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS
• Mahendra Lama, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University [Download Presentation]
• Nitya Nanda, Fellow, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) [Download Presentation]
• Ijaz Nabi, Country Director, International Growth Centre, Pakistan

Special Address by Abdul Basit, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India
Special Session: Enhancing India Pakistan Trade-Perspectives from Business

Chair – Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Chairperson, ICRIER

Speakers:

• Sunil Munjal, Joint Managing Director, Hero MotoCorp 
• Syed Yawar Ali, Chairman, Nestle Pakistan Ltd.
• Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises Ltd.
• Sikandar Mustafa Khan, Chairman, Millat Group, Pakistan

Day 2: February 3, 2015 (Tuesday)

Session 5: Transport Connectivity

Chair – Arvind Mehta, Joint Secretary, (SAARC), Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, India

Speakers:

• Manzoor Ahmad,  Managing Director, World Trade Advisors [Download Presentation]
• Manoj Krishna Akhouri, Executive Director, Traffic Transportation, Railway Board and Director CRWC, India
• Chander Agarwal, Executive Director, TCIL
• Joseph George , United Nations ESCAP South and South-West Asia Office, New Delhi [Download Presentation]
• Muhammad Anwar, Owner and CEO, Custom Syndicate, Pakistan [Download Presentation]

Session 6: Telecommunication Networks

Chair –  Rajat Kathuria, Director & CE, ICRIER

Speakers:

• V. Sridhar, Professor, IIT, Bangalore [Download Presentation]
• Rajan S. Mathews, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India
• Parvez Iftikhar, International ICT Consultant
• Mahesh Uppal, Director, Com First (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Session 7: Visa regime: The Critical Link

Chair – Sachin Chaturvedi, Director-General, RIS

Speakers:

• Syed Yawar Ali, Chairman, Nestle Pakistan Ltd
• Atindra Sen, Former Director General,  Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• Zubair Ahmad, Former President, Federation of Pakistan, Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), Karachi
• Akshay Mathur, Head of Research, Gateway House, Mumbai
• Pardeep Sehgal,  Partner, Sinochem Impex, Amritsar and Vice-President, Indian Importers Association

Session 8: Role of Media

Chair – Vikram Chandra, CEO & MD, New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV)

Speakers:

• Chandan Mitra, Editor & MD, The Pioneer
• Salman Shah, Former Finance Minister, Pakistan
• Najam Sethi, Editor-in-Chief, Friday Times
• Shujaat Bukhari, Editor-in-Chief, Rising Kashmir
• Suhasini Haidar, Strategic & Diplomatic Affairs Editor, The Hindu
• Wamiq A. Zuberi, Editor & Chief Executive, Business Recorder
• Ajai Shukla, Consulting Editor, Business Standard