No traders from Pakistan invited at Agra trade fair
While there are over 150 businesses from various sectors of the leather footwear and garments manufacturing industry participating in the trade fair, Pakistani businesses have not been invited.
The leather industry of Agra will be holding its annual trade fair meet at Agra on November 8. The event, which will last for three days, won’t include Pakistani businesses, which form the mainstay of leather business in the Indian subcontinent.
While there are over 150 businesses from various sectors of the leather footwear and garments manufacturing industry participating in the trade fair, Pakistani businesses have not been invited.
The move is being seen as a very courageous step by the Agra-based organisation of leather exporters that holds this fair every year.
A major volume of Indian leather business is transacted with Pakistan every year and by bypassing Pakistan entirely, the Agra-based footwear exporters are trying to express solidarity with the rest of the country’s businesses who are refusing to conduct trade with Pakistan due to its ambiguous policy on cross-border terrorism.
Sources in the trade body indicated that this trade fair could be inaugurated by Union Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey and will focus on US-China trade trends, ease of doing business in India and export growth.
Footwear and management students have also been invited to attend these technical sessions.
However, a large section of the footwear industry of Agra has criticised the move to boycott Pakistan businesses claiming that the trade fair should not have been politicised.
A number of footwear factory owners claimed that small businesses were being kept away from the trade fair.
A senior BSP leader who also owns a footwear factory said that most of the footwear workers in Agra belong to the minority and SC/ST communities, but they are never invited to take part in the trade fair.
Source:https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/no-traders-from-pakistan-invited-at-agra-trade-fair-1615164-2019-11-02
