With Pakistan reeling from the after-effects of floods, its textile mill sector has appealed to India to honour the commitments for dispatching raw cotton in letter and spirit.
As the floods had devastated large tracts of farm land, cotton production in Pakistan has been affected along with most other major crops. In such a situation, Pakistani textile mills not only require the contracted cotton from India, but a liberal gesture in the form of additional raw cotton as well.
Addressing a press conference here, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association Vice Chairman Shahzad Ali Khan pointed out that India had managed to export only one lakh bales out of the contracted quantity of 10 lakh bales. What the Pakistan industry needed was not just the entire contracted amount but an additional quantity. India has so far exported about 30 lakh bales of cotton to other countries and was in a position to assist the Pakistani textile industry.
Expressing the hope that balance quantity of nine lakh bales would be shipped out at the earliest, Mr. Khan said Pakistan was faced with a severe supply crunch on the raw cotton front due to floods in parts of cotton growing areas in the country. It is estimated that Pakistan lost about 25 lakh bales of cotton due to the floods and faces an overall deficit of 40 lakh bales.
Urging India to “help a neighbour’’; he expressed the hope that the balance quantity of nine lakh bales would be shipped out at the earliest.
The Pakistan Textile Mills Association, he said, had already submitted a request in this regard to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. A similar plea has been lodged with the Pakistan High Commission with the hope that it would be followed up with the Indian industry and the Government. Desperate for succour from India, the Pakistani textile industry has also taken up the issue with the cotton exporters in Mumbai.
