Federal cabinet defers ECCs proposal for cotton, sugar import from India

April 02, 2021: The federal cabinet has deferred an Economic Coordination Committee’s proposal for the import of cotton and sugar from India.

Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired the meeting of the cabinet via video link which took up various agenda items including the ECC’s proposal for importing sugar and cotton from India.

After the cabinet meeting, the Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in a video message, said after debating the matter, the federal cabinet did not endorse the ECC’s proposal for the import of cotton and sugar from India and decided to put it off.

He said the Prime Minister Imran Khan and the cabinet members unanimously believe that normalization of Pakistan-India ties is impossible unless India reverses its illegal steps of August 5, 2019 in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Later, briefing media about decisions of the federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad, the Minister for Science and Technology, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said the government has not granted approval of any trade activity with India.

He said that even though Pakistan-India relations can be a game-changer for the region and bring economic prosperity but “this progress cannot be achieved on the cost of Kashmir dispute.

The Minister said the government as well as the Prime Minister has always reiterated their stance that peace in Kashmir is a key to durable peace in South Asia.

He said if India withdraws its August 5 move, new avenues of cooperation can be opened between the two countries.

About the Covid-19 situation, Fawad Chaudhry said the government is determined to battle the pandemic as it did during the previous two waves.

He said in the light of the Broadsheet inquiry commission report, the cabinet decided to take legal action against officers involved in the case.

Fawad Chaudry said action will also be taken against the mafia involved in creating the sugar crisis.

He said the records of Swiss accounts were lost due to the criminal negligence of the then Chairman NAB and other officials.

The cabinet also reviewed the petroleum crisis and decided to take action against those companies that failed to keep the stock of 20 days.

 Radio Pakistan