Gyanendra Kumar Keshri | 11 Apr, 2013
Granting of the most favoured nation (MFN) status to India by Pakistan will depend on election results in that country next month, a top official said Wednesday.
"The present government has said that they are moving towards that (granting MFN status) decision but we will have to wait for the election results," said the official.
The Pakistan government last year announced that it has decided to grant the MFN status to India. But the decision has not been implemented yet.
The official, who did not want to be named, said the political upheavals have affected implementation of the decision.
"They (Pakistan government) have assured that the process is on track," he said.
The MFN status would help normalise business and economic relations between the two neighbours and substantially boost bilateral trade.
Once that status is granted, Pakistan will have to treat India on par with its other favoured trading partners.
India has already granted the MFN status to Pakistan in 1996.
General elections are scheduled in Pakistan next month. A successful poll exercise will mark the first transition between two democratically elected governments in the 65-year history of Pakistan.
Pakistan has witnessed three military coups and constant political instability since its formation in 1947.
(Gyanendra Kumar Keshri can be contacted at gyanendra.k@ians.in)
