External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar addressed the status of India’s trade relations with Pakistan, saying that New Delhi didn’t cease trade; rather, the Islamabad administration decided to halt trading in 2019.
“We did not stop trading. Their administration made the decision in 2019 to not continue trading with us,” EAM Jaishankar said in a press conference in Washington DC on Wednesday (local time).
While addressing reporters, the EAM also reiterated India’s longstanding concern regarding the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status, which India had extended to Pakistan but which Pakistan didn’t reciprocate.
“Our concern about this issue was from the beginning that we should get MFN status. We used to give this status to Pakistan but they did not give it to us,” the EAM said. Noting that there have been no recent discussions or initiatives on trade from either side, he added, “So, neither such talks have taken place with Pakistan regarding trade from our side, nor did they take any initiative from their side.”
Highlighting India-US ties, Jaishankar said both nations have a “very strong degree” of trust and convergence. “We have a very strong degree of trust today between India and the United States, a very high level of convergence of our interests,” he said. He also noted that the two nations share a sense of global good and are committed to serving their national interests while building their bilateral partnership.
“A sense that while we serve our national interest, while we build our bilateral partnership, definitely on regional issues and global issues, there is a lot of good that we can do. So that sense of global good was also very evident conceptually in what we discussed,” the EAM said.
“In terms of the bilateral ties, this was the first day of the administration, so we had sort of essentially a broad brush conversation, didn’t get too deep into details, but there was an agreement, a consensus between us that we need to be bolder, bigger and more ambitious,” he added.
Notably, Jaishankar represented India at US President Donald Trump’s inaugural function. He also carried a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for President Trump. Donald Trump took oath as the 47th US President on January 20.