The US State Department urges both neighboring countries India and Pakistan to hold direct talks to normalize relations while refusing to comment over Pakistan’s decision to cancel imports of sugar and cotton from India.
“I wouldn’t want to comment on that specifically. What I would say is that we continue to support direct dialogue between India and Pakistan on issues of concern,” said the department’s spokesperson Ned Price when asked what Washington thought of this development.
Earlier on March 31, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) announced that they are allowing the private sector to import 0.5 million tons of white sugar from India. The committee also approved another proposal to import cotton from India starting June this year.
But on April 1, the federal cabinet withheld the ECC’s decision to allow imports from India until New Delhi reinstates Article 370 of its Constitution, which guaranteed a semi-autonomous status for India-held Kashmir.
