Anand Sharma (right) with Rahul Khullar in New Delhi on Sunday. Picture by Ramakant Kushwaha

New Delhi, Feb. 12: Commerce minister Anand Sharma today expressed optimism about Islamabad announcing a shift to a negative list of goods for Indian exporters.

“There is every reason for us to believe that there is an expressed wish and desire on Pakistan’s part to move to the (negative list) regime. This will deepen and diversify trade and enhance economic engagement,” Sharma, who is the first commerce minister from the country to visit Pakistan since Independence, told reporters here.

At present, Pakistan allows the import of 1,945 items based on a positive list under the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (Safta), while it has a sensitive list of 1,169 items.

Pakistan has the discretion to charge higher duties on the items in the sensitive list.

It is expected that instead of the positive and sensitive lists, Pakistan will now have a narrow negative list of about 200 items, which means a whole range of products barring those 200 can be exported by India.

Sharma said, “This is the understanding (negative list) which has been given to us when the Pakistani commerce secretary came again in November. This will be a major boost to two-way trade. We expect trade to double in the next 3-4 years from the current level of $2.7 billion.”

India’s top exports to Pakistan include sugar, cotton, man-made filaments and chemicals, while its imports comprise mineral fuels and organic chemicals.

Indian traders of textiles, cotton, vegetables, coffee, tea and spices can benefit from the pruning of the list. Pakistan can also derive benefits with New Delhi considering lowering the duties for textiles, farm products and cement.

Nisha Taneja, trade analyst with the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, said, “After decades of talking, real concrete action is being taken by both sides. There is no going back now. It would give a boost to trade relations between the two countries. And, to cement the ties, the two nations should go in for a bilateral treaty for investor protection to boost investment across borders.”

According to commerce secretary Rahul Khullar, “What we have agreed to is a sequenced approach in the sense, in the first stage, they will move to a negative list and in the second phase, they will dismantle that negative list.”

Sharma, along with around 150 businessmen and industry representatives, will lead the largest Indian trade delegation to Pakistan.

The delegation will take part in a series of promotional events, including an “India Show” in Lahore over four days starting tomorrow.