Pakistan allows sugar, cotton imports from India as ties improve

Pakistan says it will allow some imports to ease price pressure, latest indication of thaw in relations with India.

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan’s government lifted a nearly two-year ban on the import of sugar from eastern neighbour India, the latest indication of a growing thaw in frozen relations between the South Asian rivals. Speaking in the capital Islamabad on Wednesday, Finance Minister Hammad Azhar said Pakistan would allow the import of 500,000 tonnes of white sugar from India to combat spiking domestic prices. “In our neighbouring country, in India, the price of sugar is much lower than in Pakistan,” said Azhar. “So we have decided to open sugar trade with India, to the limit of 500,000 tonnes in the private sector.”