Time for India, Pakistan to introduce common currency: Pak leader

Lahore: Over 1,200 items on the negative list regime for trade with India will be withdrawn in December and the time has come for the two countries to think of introducing a common currency to boost trade, ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Jehangir Badr has said.

"Precisely 1,209 items on the negative list of trade with India will be withdrawn by December," Badr said while addressing a Pakistan-India Media Conference at the Lahore Press Club on Friday.

The time has come for Pakistan and India to think of introducing a common currency for countering the pressure of the US dollar, British pound and Euro and to boost bilateral trade, he said.

Over 1,200 items on the negative list regime for trade with India will be withdrawn by Pakistan in December.

Around 40 Indian journalists, who are in Pakistan for a three-day visit, attended the conference jointly arranged by the Lahore Press Club, Chandigarh Press Club and the Press Club of India in New Delhi.

Badr, who is part of a parliamentary-level peace dialogue between the two countries, mentioned how the PPP and its governments had been trying to improve relations with India. Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, who also addressed the gathering, said peace between India and Pakistan is very important and both countries were actively engaged at different levels in this regard.

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