Onions get India, Pakistan to talk

India and Pakistan are getting on each other’s nerves once more. Only this time, it is not a diplomatic spat where statements emanating from New Delhi and Islamabad blame the other for real and perceived threats, insults and issues as it usually has been in the last few years. It is about trade, and more specifically about onions. Pakistan was exporting onions to India to tide over the acute shortage of this important vegetable, particularly for north Indian cuisine. Now, Islamabad has stopped the export of onions saying there is a shortage in Pakistan.

Indian traders have retaliated by stopping the export of vegetables to Pakistan. Probably, Islamabad is indulging in predictable retaliation -- a trade war tactic -- because it is fuming at New Delhi’s reluctance to export the much-needed cotton to Pakistan, and apparently the sudden stoppage of onions is merely a move to increase pressure on New Delhi.

There is, however, a glimmer of hope that after the customary bickering, the two sides will talk and sort out trade matters. External affairs minister SM Krishna has promised to talk to his counterpart so that we can have affordable Pakistani onions on our plate. Krishna has also referred to the meeting of foreign secretaries which would serve as a prelude to the foreign ministers’ talks that are to follow soon. If these meetings are able to focus on increasing trade between the two countries, it could improve the prospect of bilateral dialogue on the more intractable issues.

India and Pakistan are economically and socially interlocked because they share the same geography even when they differ and quarrel on matters of politics and history. If politicians and generals were to step aside, it could very well be the case that traders and common people from the two sides will interact with each other more closely and establish stronger reciprocal ties.
It would, of course, be unrealistic to ignore the issues that divide the two countries and which are not likely to go away anytime soon. But trade could be a good starting point to keep the differences from boiling over.