mr president it is now eight months since the council proposed a sensible package of measures to help pakistan following the devastating flooding
i regret that eight months later we are still debating it and not implementing it
let us ask why we needed this package
there is a difference between aid and what is contained in this trade package
aid of course is very important to pakistan but the idea of this trade package was to provide an incentive to entrepreneurs to start rebuilding factories and reinvesting in the textile and other industries that were literally swept away by the flooding
it is not true to say that the textile industry was not impacted by the flooding
it is true that the centre of much of the textile industry is elsewhere than the flooded area but a lot of the support packages for the textile industry were in flooded areas as was a lot of the textile industry
this would have given an incentive to rebuild the textile industry by demonstrating there was a market for their products
unfortunately our response has been very curmudgeonly
i can certainly support the idea of having a safeguard clause but it would be better to do nothing at all than to do this for only one year
one year will not give the space for the investment that is necessary
i also regret that india has been less than supportive in the wto but i hope as mr rinaldi mentioned that the so-called cricket diplomacy is going to lead to a solution and that india will recognise that both on humanitarian grounds and in the interests of security it is important to help pakistan create jobs and investment in the future
