India-Pakistan Trade: Strengthening Economic Relations

Examining the implications of recent important developments, the primary aim of this book is to bridge the gaps in existing literature on India-Pakistan economic engagement and to examine various aspects of the trade normalization process.

The book includes familiar themes of India-Pakistan bilateral trade in goods and services, providing new insights into the potential for trade and the challenges involved in realizing it. The respective chapters examine the current trade trends and identify the possible sectors for bilateral FDI flows between the two countries, which could help forge deeper economic ties between them. In light of India’s changed investment policy, this analysis is pertinent for investors and policy-makers alike.

The book also includes chapters on a variety of unconventional subjects, such as estimating the levels of informal trade, an analysis of a trade perception survey and identifying trade potential using a CGE modeling approach. Further, a number of sectors have been identified for in-depth analysis, including sports goods, healthcare and energy. These sector-based analyses reflect the gap between current levels of trade in the selected industries and the possible trade potential. The studies identify key tradable commodities in the health and sports industries, as well as opportunities for trading in energy. The book thus provides readers with a deep understanding of the process of normalizing economic relations and enhancing bilateral trade at the micro and macro levels, on the basis of which the authors subsequently provide recommendations for policymakers.

Nisha Taneja is a Professor at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi, India. She holds a Ph.D from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Having a range of experience in policy-oriented research in India, her key areas of research include trade and transport facilitation, non-tariff barriers, regional integration, informal trade, institutional economics and the textile industry. She has also worked on various aspects of India-Pakistan trade, India-Nepal trade and India-Sri Lanka trade. Dr. Taneja’s research work has been a key contributor to the trade negotiations in the South Asian region. She has served on committees set up by the Government of India on Informal Trade, Rules of Origin and Non-tariff Barriers. She has been a consultant to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Dr. Taneja has also conducted research for the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Environment and Forests and for several international agencies such as UNIDO, London School of Economics, South Asia Network of Economic research Institutes (SANEI), Department for International Development (DFID), and International Development Research Centre (IDRC). She has published 3 books, about 40 articles in books and journals, and 30 reports/working papers. Her work has been disseminated widely in India and in several other countries including Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, Korea, Japan, USA, UAE and Germany.

Sanjib Pohit is a Senior Principal Scientist at CSIR-National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS), New Delhi. He holds a Ph.D from Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), New Delhi. Dr. Pohit has previously held research positions at the National Council for Applied Economic Research, ICRIER and the ISI, New Delhi. He was also a visiting scholar to the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, USA) and the Conference Board of Canada. Dr. Pohit has served on various committees setup by the Government of India. He has been a consultant to various national and international bodies, including The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI), OECD, CUTS, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Ernst & Young, ICRIER, and RIS (New Delhi). An experienced modeler in the areas of trade and environment, Dr. Pohit has 20 years of economic modelling experience. He has worked in many spheres, including institutional economics, transport economics, input-output models, FDI, informal trade, automobile industry and South Asian integration. He has co-authored 6 books and has published about 80 articles in journals/books. Dr. Pohit has also presented his research at seminars and conferences in different parts of the world, including Japan, Canada, USA, India, Bangladesh, Switzerland, Netherlands, Singapore and Finland.