Pakistan to give MFN status to India: Khar

13 Oct 2011

Pakistan foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said Pakistan had in principle decided to grant Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India. She was speaking in the National Assembly.

According to a report of the Associated Press of Pakistan, the minister said during question hour that the dialogue process with India had been initiated after a two year gap.

 Khar said, "The topmost priority of the country is to ensure uninterrupted dialogue with India so that the resolution of core Kashmir could be ensured."

"There are a number of achievements regarding relations with India. We have achieved ground on trade with India. First time in history, the Indian foreign minister had attended the reception of Pakistan foreign minister in New York," she was quoted as saying.

Over the past three years, the Jammu and Kashmir dispute had been discussed at all bilateral interactions between the leadership of the two countries as well as at the level of foreign secretaries.

"I raised the Jammu and Kashmir issue with my Indian counterpart at the ministerial meeting in New Delhi in July 2011. The joint statement of the ministerial meeting underscored the need for continued discussion of Jammu and Kashmir in a purposeful and forward-looking manner with a view to finding a peaceful solution by narrowing divergences and building convergences," the minister said.