India on Sunday asked Pakistan to give it the Most Favoured Nation status and remove all non-tariff barriers.

It also assured Pakistan that New Delhi was ready to remove any Pakistan-specific barriers to trade.

In his inaugural address at the launch of 'India-Pakistan CEOs Business Forum' in Delhi, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said, "There is a perception that India maintains certain non-tariff barriers (against Pakistan). Let me declare in unambiguous terms that if there are any Pakistan-specific restrictions, the Government of India will strive to remove them."

"Naturally, it is our hope that Pakistan will also sooner rather than later give India the MFN treatment and remove all non-tariff barriers," Sinha added.

Complete coverage of the Indo-Pak thaw

Pointing out that the need for greater economic interaction between the two countries was self-evident, Sinha wanted to know if two billion dollars worth of trade can happen when 'politics has been working against trade'.

"What would be the picture when politics and trade became aligned?" he asked.

According to official figures, trade between India and Pakistan is currently around 200-250 million dollars. This is about one-fourth of trade between India and other countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Estimated actual trade, when that through third countries is also taken into account, is pegged at two billion dollars.

Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmad said many opportunities exist for economic cooperation between India and Pakistan and other Southeast Asian nations

While asserting that economic cooperation cannot flourish between the two countries in isolation, he said, "Sound communication links and level playing field are two paramount requirements for any sustainable economic cooperation between the countries of the region."

Addressing the gathering earlier, Confederation of Indian Industries president Anand Mahindra cautioned against raising high hopes from the visit of 12 Pakistani CEOs to India.

Setting up of the 'India-Pakistan CEOs Business Forum', he added, was the first step towards increased efforts at boosting bilateral trade.

Leader of the Pakistani delegation Amin Hashwani said this was a goodwill visit to set grounds for more cordial liaison between the two neighbours.

"There is tremendous unexplored economic potential to accelerate mutual business and trade relations," he said.

Sinha also declared that India has no intention to be Pak-centric in its policies.

The forthcoming UN General Assembly session, he added, would be a 'test for this'.

"For example, the practice of turning every international and multilateral forum into a battleground to attack each other should end," Sinha said.

Sinha's remarks came after Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmad Khan used the occasion to rake up the Kashmir issue.

"One single issue that has influenced our relations for over half a century is the non-resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. Failure to address this most crucial issue is the main reason for the state of cooperation and relations as they exist today," Khan said.

He also said the two countries remained bedevilled by 'deep-rooted suspicion and distrust' but went on to add that the peace initiative taken by the two prime ministers in April this year had generated enthusiasm at the popular level.

It was felt that finally the two countries would be able to break the decades old impasse and make a new beginning in bilateral relations 'by addressing the Kashmir issue and all other irritants dividing the two countries', Khan said.

Sinha said while respective domestic media exulted in the coverage of such verbal duels, 'the sad reality is that they lower the standard of debate of the entire forum in which they take place and are a major source of embarrassment to all those forced to witness this unseemly spectacle'.

Later, asked about the prospects of resumption of dialogue with Pakistan, Sinha told reporters, "We have repeatedly made our stand clear."

He emphasised that 'political differences should not be allowed to overwhelm economic and trade relations' while noting that there were many instances where countries having political differences have managed to build strong economic ties.

The minister said there has been a 'significant change' in Indo-Pak relations since Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee extended his hand of friendship to Pakistan.

Observing that a number of 'important steps' have been taken to advance people-to-people contacts, he said the Delhi-Lahore bus service has been resumed and there was now a regular flow of people across the Wagah border.

He said while a great deal of progress has been made there were areas like resumption of civil aviation links where talks had not proved as productive 'as one would have liked'.

Sinha said a tea trade delegation and a team of jurists from India were denied visas to go to Pakistan 'for reasons which remain a mystery to us'.

New Delhi did not intend to allow these setbacks to cool its enthusiasm in any manner, he said. "We are committed to persevering with the process of normalising the relationship."

Sinha also pointed out that despite the ups and downs in Indo-Pak ties, New Delhi continued to extend the MFN treatment to Pakistan.

He stressed that 'space' has to be provided for developing economic ties, which should 'not be held hostage to one or two issues'.

Sinha said if despite the MFN status, Pakistan had any specific restrictions, the India government 'will strive for their removal'.

"We, in India and Pakistan, have allowed our differences to overwhelm our commonalities so far. We have failed to provide adequate space for our natural complementarities to assert themselves," he said.