India will review the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status given to Pakistan at a meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.
The decision comes in the wake of the Uri attack.
The MFN status was accorded in 1996 under the WTO’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Both India and Pakistan are signatories to the agreement, according to which they have to treat each other and rest of WTO member countries as favoured trading partners.
Pakistan’s contribution to trade
According to Assocham (Associated Chambers of Commerce of India), out of India’s total merchandise trade of USD 641 billion in 2015-16, Pakistan accounted for a meagre USD 2.67 billion.
India’s exports to Pakistan worked out to USD 2.17 billion, or 0.83 per cent, of the total Indian outward shipments while imports were less than USD 500 million, or 0.13 per cent, of the total inward shipments.
The Prime Minister on Monday chaired a review meeting of the Indus Water Treaty, during which it was decided that India will “exploit to the maximum” the water of Pakistan-controlled rivers, including Jhelum, as per the water sharing pact.
