LAHORE (March 16 2004): The vice-president, Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Shahzad Ali Malik, has taken strong exception of the reported statement of the head of the Pakistani delegation visiting New Delhi that Pakistan plans to buy 500,000 tonnes of rice from India to meet its export commitments.

In a press statement issued here on Monday, Malik while terming the statement as irresponsible, said the Pakistani delegation recently on Indian tour had no legal authority to make any agreement with India.

He said when Pakistan has surplus rice of around two million tonnes to export rice of Irri type and Basmati rice, how can we think of buying rice from India, he questioned.

By giving such irresponsible statement, the delegation head is giving wrong signals to the world and to buyers of Pakistani rice, he added.

Malik said the Pak delegation head should refrain from giving misleading statements that can hurt the interests of growers as well as millers of Sindh and Punjab, adding the LCCI does support the peace initiatives between India and Pakistan, but in this process "we should not sacrifice our farmers, millers, exporters and image as a rice exporting nation, he added.

The Consortium of Brown Rice Exporters supporting the viewpoint of the LCCI vowed to reject any agreement especially regarding brown rice entered by this unrepresentative delegation, he claimed.

"India made false claims in the European Union and the United Kingdom even now about origin of the Basmati varieties that led to temporary exclusion of Super Basmati earlier by the European Union from abatement.

This Indian move has hurt Pakistan's farmers and exporters directly and Pakistan's heritage in Basmati immensely. Thus, how could Pakistan make any agreement of waging joint efforts at EU forum", he added.

Courtesy Business Recorder