Large Indian Trade Delegation Visits Pakistan

 　　Trade representatives from India have concluded four days of meetings with business leaders in Pakistan aimed at deepening economic engagement between the rival South Asian nations.

　　India's 120-member delegation¹, led by trade Minister Anand Sharma, included some of the nation's top business leaders.  Among them were  Rajan Mittal, the head of India's leading telecom company, Bharti; and Naresh Goyal, the head of the nation's largest airline, Jet Airways².

　　The high-profile delegation met Pakistani business leaders and authorities in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.

　　Trade Minister Sharma underlined the need for the two countries to dismantle³ existing barriers to trade.

　　“The road map that we have defined for ourselves should bring in a liberal trade regime," said Sharma.

　　The two sides signed three accords in such areas as customs cooperation and grievance⁴ redress⁵. They agreed to make it easier to secure business visas. And they agreed to open a gate at a border crossing in April to facilitate the movement of trucks.

　　Pakistan has also promised to increase the number of goods that can be traded and to leave only a small number of goods on a list of items that cannot be traded.

　　Business leaders believe this could help the two countries achieve their goal of increasing trade from the current level of $2.3 billion to $6 billion in three years.

　　The effort to normalize trade ties began last November, when Islamabad promised to open its markets to most Indian goods.

　　The move has been widely praised. Indian Trade Minister Sharma said that growing trade relations will strengthen forces that believe in peace.

　　Many believe that strengthening trade will foster better ties between the South Asian rivals and make it easier to work out their political differences.

　　Dipankar Banerjee is at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies in New Delhi:

　　“It reflects a very true and genuine interest on the part of India and also the business community on both sides to normalize trade ties," said Banerjee.

　　However it could take time to significantly step up economic engagement between the rivals due to old animosities.

　　There is some disappointment in New Delhi that Pakistan has not yet formally implemented⁶ the Most Favored Nation status it granted to India.

　　Analysts⁷ attribute the delay to lingering suspicions in Pakistan over normalizing trade with India.

1 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

2 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

3 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

4 grievance   

n.怨愤，气恼，委屈

参考例句：

• He will not easily forget his grievance.他不会轻易忘掉他的委屈。
• He had been nursing a grievance against his boss for months.几个月来他对老板一直心怀不满。

5 redress   

n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除

参考例句：

• He did all that he possibly could to redress the wrongs.他尽了一切努力革除弊端。
• Any man deserves redress if he has been injured unfairly.任何人若蒙受不公平的损害都应获得赔偿。

6 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

7 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。