LAHORE: (APP) Pakistan and India are major countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and have great responsibility to maintain peace in the region.
These views were expressed by LCCI Senior Vice President Almas Hyder and Vice President Nasir Saeed on Friday while talking to Deputy High Commissioner of India JP Singh at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
Vice President Almas Hyder said there were many issues prevailing between the two countries but people to people contacts could play an effective role in dispelling wrong perceptions about each other.
He called for encouraging more people-to-people contact to improve the deteriorating trade volume between the two countries.
He said Pakistani businessmen wanted to strengthen business relations with Indian counterparts, and for that reason; they should be facilitated by Indian High Commission in Pakistan in terms of provision of timely visas on relaxed terms and conditions.
LCCI Vice President Nasir Saeed said private sectors of the two countries needed to put in more efforts to further enhance bilateral trade.
He said chambers of commerce from Pakistani and Indian sides had to play a sensible role to facilitate their members with regard to developing networking amongst each other.
In his address, Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh said the Indian prime minister had prioritized improving trade relations with SAARC States and taking all possible steps in this regard.
Further in the meeting, few members in the house complained about the issues they were facing in terms of getting Indian visa.
It was proposed that LCCI office bearers and Executive Committee members should be granted multiple entry visas as all the members who were elected on the board of LCCI comprises reputed businessmen of Lahore.