Won’t make any ’emotional decision’ on India’s withdrawal of MFN status: Pak
Islamabad: Pakistan will not make any “emotional decision” following India announced the withdrawal of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to the country and respond to it after due deliberation, a senior official said on Friday.
India on Friday revoked the MFN status to Pakistan in the aftermath of Pulwama terror attack. Forty CRPF personnel were killed when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into their bus in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Thursday.
The Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the attack on the convoy of 78 vehicles that was on its way from Jammu to Srinagar.
Advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister on Trade Abdul Razzak Dawood told reporters here that a response to Indian decision would come after due deliberation.
“India has removed us from the list of MFN nations but we will not make any emotional decision and will issue a response after making due thinking, he said.
Withdrawal of the MFN status would significantly hit Pakistan’s exports to India, which stood at USD 488.5 million (around Rs 3,482.3 crore) in 2017-18.
But a finance ministry official told PTI that the impact of India’s decision will be marginal.
“As the trade between the two countries was just over USD 2 billion dollars and Pakistan’s exports were a fourth of it.
“So Pakistan is not going to lose much in terms of money in the short term,” the official said. PTI
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