Daily Times

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Wednesday once again said that the government could consider importing food items from India to mitigate the fallout of the devastating floods.

The minister, in a tweet, said the government has been approached by more than one international agency to allow them to bring food items from India through the international border. He furthered the government will make a formal announcement to allow imports or not based on the supply shortage position. He also added the decision would be made after consultation with coalition partners and other key stakeholders. This is the second time in a week that Ismail has hinted towards import from India. “We can consider importing vegetables from India. Turkey and Iran could also be other options,” the minister had said earlier.

While saying that importing vegetables through the border with India was also under consideration, he stated that opening duty-free imports was a possibility as it would make it easier. “We normally favour farmers earning money and do not want to open imports but because this is an extraordinary situation, trade with India will be opened if need be,” Ismail said. Responding to Ismail, PML-N leader Mohammad Zubair said the country “desperately” needed essential food items. “Not importing at cheaper rates within a short timeframe will be criminal. Like we say, we can deal with politics later – this time international politics,” he added. Separately, the matter was also brought up in the Senate Standing Committee on Commerce’s meeting on Wednesday. Senator Palwasha Khan questioned whether the government was considering importing onions and tomatoes from India, to which Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar replied that for now, the government had decided to import the items from Iran and Afghanistan.