No restriction on cotton import via Karachi port: Dastgir

05 Dec '16

2 min read

The government has not imposed any restriction on import of Indian cotton via Karachi port, Pakistan's commerce minister Khurram Dastgir has said. However, the government has put a restriction of importing 500,000 cotton bales in a year through the Wagah border. Despite tensions, Pakistan's trade regime with India remains unchanged, the minister said.

The clarification was made by Dastgir in response to a point raised by the Senate Standing Committee on Textile Industry chairman Mohsin Aziz, according to Pakistani media reports.

Aziz said a huge quantity of raw cotton from India has been stopped at the Karachi port, to which Dastgir replied that no notification has been issued by the government in this regard.

Aziz, however, sought ban on import of value-added products from India in order to protect the domestic textile industry. He said Pakistan's textile industry is on a decline due to high tariffs on import of input materials, high prices of power and gas, and lack of progress on restructuring bank loans, among others.

During July-September 2016-17, the value of textile and garment exports made by Pakistan decreased by 5.96 per cent year-on-year in dollar terms to $3.028 billion, according to data from Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

More Textiles News - Pakistan...