- An influential Pakistani billionaire has claimed that India and Pakistan are still engaged in back-channel contacts that could eventually pave the way for a visit by the Indian prime minister.
Mian Muhammad Mansha, chairman of the Karachi-based Nishat Group, told a meeting of businessmen at the Lahore Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday that there are no “permanent enemies” and that India and Pakistan could both benefit from improving relations.
“I know, even now, talks have been going on with India at the back [sic]Within a month [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi will come here if we can trade ourselves. These conversations are going on now myself and I know this, “said Mansha, speaking in a mix of English and Urdu.
“We need peace. They have technology, and we have some things we can give them,” he is heard saying in a video of the event.
Mansha did not give details about the contacts on the back channel to which he referred. There was no immediate response from Indian officials to his remarks.
After months of back-channel contacts between Indian and Pakistani security officials that were never publicly recognized, the two countries revived the 2003 ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir in February 2021. Officials from the United Arab Emirates have acknowledged that their country has played a role in facilitating these contacts.
However, the ties between the two sides are at their lowest point due to a series of terrorist attacks on Indian security forces that have been blamed on Pakistan-based terrorist groups and there have been no reports of back channel contacts in the recent past.
Mansha, whose conglomerate has interests in textiles, cement, power and banking and annual revenues of more than $ 2 billion, said several times during the interaction that the contacts on the back channel continue even now
“There are no permanent enemies … we have to resolve things with India,” he said, noting that until the 1965 war between the two countries, 50% to 60% of Pakistan’s total trade was with India. Trade between the two sides will also help them tackle pressing issues such as poverty, he said.
“If the economy does not improve, [Pakistan] can have disastrous consequences. Pakistan needs to improve trade relations with India and take a regional approach to economic development. Europe fought two major wars, but eventually settled for peace and regional development. There is no permanent enmity, “he added.
The governments of India and Pakistan have a long history of using businessmen to channel contacts back.
India has in recent years claimed that Pakistan would create conditions conducive to dialogue by making individuals and groups responsible for cross-border terrorism. Pakistan has said the two sides need to move forward in different areas, even if steps are taken to tackle the problem of terrorism.
Trade relations between India and Pakistan have been suspended since August 2019, when the Indian government scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. At the same time, the Pakistani side also reduced diplomatic ties, although there has been talk in recent months that both countries could once again place new high commissioners in each other’s capitals.