Islamabad has protested the “unfavourable treatment” of Pakistani businessmen travelling to Delhi for the ‘Aalishan Pakistan’ trade fair. The fair, scheduled to begin on Thursday, expects to host about 150 businesses from across the border, with stalls including Pakistani fashion, jewellery, furniture and onyx products.
A similar fair in April 2012 had attracted lakhs of visitors in Delhi.
In a letter to the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), Rabiya Javeri Agha, Secretary of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), has complained that businessmen travelling to India this year are facing a series of problems. According to Pakistani officials, many businessmen haven’t yet received visas for the event, and those with visas will have to submit themselves for “police reporting.”
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An agreement between Home Secretaries, finalised in January 2013, planned to exempt businessmen from reporting to the police, but has never been implemented. According to the TDAP official, some businessmen say they are also facing delays in transporting their merchandise, with Customs officials holding up shipments at the Wagah border and Delhi airport.
“This is clearly a departure from the past,” said a Pakistani government source. “When Indian businessmen travelled to Lahore for a trade fair last year, we stayed open all weekend issuing visas. Furthermore, our Commerce Minister personally attended to details and inaugurated the ‘India show’. While Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been invited to ‘Aalishan Pakistan’, she is yet to confirm attendance,” the source said.
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Officials say they have taken up the issue at “the highest level in the MEA, Commerce Ministry and Ministry of Home Affairs.” The MEA however, says it is responsible only for providing “political clearance” to the fair, which was granted.
Adding to the worries of the organisers, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has written to the government and co-organisers, FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) demanding that the trade fair be cancelled, while members of the ‘Rashtravadi Shivsena’ protested at Pragati Maidan, the exhibition venue, and burnt flags. A FICCI spokesperson declined to comment on the protests, only saying that the business event would go ahead as planned.