Image Credit: Dawn
ISLAMABAD, July 12 (Online): Leader of the business community and former President ICCI Shahid Rasheed Butt on Sunday asked the government to consider lifting ban on import of edibles from India as suspension has provided an opportunity to the mafia to milk masses.
Trade with India was a deterrent to the mafia as any hike in the price of edibles would have initiated imports but this option was closed a year ago resulting in a windfall for the profiteers, he said.
Shahid Rasheed Butt said that government could consider allowing imports of poultry, milk, fruit, vegetables, and pulses without compromising on its principled stance.
He said that many countries have differences and even enmity but they are not mixing economics with politics. Bilateral trade between the US and Russia is almost 29 billion dollars, China-US trade volume is around $700 billion while India and China are conducting two-way trade worth $86 billion.
The business leader said that China has never accepted Taiwan as a county, she considers it part of the China but the bilateral trade and investment surpass 250 billion dollars.
He noted that the government of Afghanistan is as hostile to Pakistan as India but we are conducting official and unofficial trade worth billions of dollars with Kabul but for India, we have a different standard that is hitting the poor people of Pakistan.
The politician who was dubbing as chief of the poultry mafia is now in jail since months but the prices are rising, he said, adding that who is involved in the plunder as the mafia chief is behind the bars.
The politician who was defamed kept prices of poultry products balanced. The chicken was available at almost Rs3500 to Rs3800 per maund when he was in business but now it is being sold at Rs Rs800 per maund.
Majority of masses have stopped consuming poultry products, which have left many unemployed, but there seems no one to take note of the plight of masses, he said.
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