Uri Attack & Surgical Strike: Should India Stop Trade Relations With Pakistan?

Pakistani disregard for life

Pakistani infiltrators sneaked into the Indian army base camp at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir and killed 18 soldiers. The irresponsible attitude displayed by Pakistan over Uri attack has taken a turn for the worse on the eve of the SAARC summit. The equipment and trackers show the Pakistan presence clearly and that the group had started its journey from Pakistan.

The first reaction from the Indian side was that India had to isolate Pakistan on the international front. The Uri attack clearly shows that India’s neighbour is intent only on taking Indian lives and not on promoting peace and harmony. Sad as this is, now India must close the borders with Pakistan and think of ways to prevent any further loss of life. People with cultural integrity place a high value on life. Obviously, Pakistan is severely lacking in this aspect.

Indo-Pak Trade

The trade between India and Pakistan amounts to Rs 206 billion of which Pakistan exported Rs 42 billion worth of goods. This informal trade sees India import fruits, vegetables, carpets, spices, textiles, cement and dry fruits. The exports consist of betel leaves, paper, machine parts, tyres, scraps, machinery, chemicals, electronic appliances, textiles and jewellery.

Traders resort to informal means for buying and selling because they cut down on the amount of distance they transport the goods. In the formal route, they have to travel to Lahore from Delhi. The transit point is Dubai via Karachi in Pakistan and Mumbai in India. The cost for transportation becomes four-fold and the distance eleven times the original.

Pakistan for its part will not take part in the trade exhibition in India. The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) said they will not take part in the ‘Alishaan Pakistan Exhibition’ scheduled for October in Delhi. India’s total trade for 2014-15 stood at $758,301 million which when compared to the $4.71 billion it had with Pakistan is huge. So, India is not going to miss doing trade with Pakistan.

Isolation of Pakistan

The pull out by India from the SAARC summit has triggered an exodus by other SAARC members. Notably, Afghanistan voiced concern over terrorism as they joined India in pulling out. They were soon joined by Bangladesh and Bhutan. The SAARC chair Nepal confirmed that the current SAARC summit stood cancelled.

The last thing was the MFN status India gave to its neighbouring countries. This helps create a homogenous transit passage for all the countries in the region. India seems committed to cancel the MFN status given to Pakistan. This will isolate Pakistan but whether they will realise the import of this action remains doubtful. They might continue on their way of terrorism more because they are ‘used to it’ than anything else.