Salvation of the cat species

A ground-breaking discovery by an Indian researcher could mean saving the wildcat family from extinction

BY USHA RAMANUJAM ARVIND

As top predators, wild cats may be at the pinnacle of the food chain; sadly they are kings of the jungle no more. Human monopoly, poaching and indiscriminate commercialisation have invaded their territory, pushing the big cats to near extinction.

But Homo sapiens could well have a chance to atone for past mistakes and re-establish a more sustainable planet, where all creatures great and small co-exist.

Making a significant breakthrough in the battle to save the endangered species, a new finding by an Indian researcher at Melbourne’s Monash University has opened the door to conservation and regeneration.

32 year old Rajneesh Verma has successfully produced “embryonic stem-like cells” from the tissue of an adult snow leopard.

Ear tissue samples were collected from a snow leopard at New South Wales’ Mogo Zoo and then manipulated to behave like embryonic stem cells. These cells can now help scientists understand the developmental biology of the creature.

While this technique has been previously effective with mice and white rhinos, this is the first time it is being employed for the cat family.

Verma’s findings are the culmination of a two-year research project at Monash Institute of Medical Research (MIMR). The Indian PhD student, who was supervised by Dr Paul Verma, worked in conjunction with Associate Professor Peter Temple-Smith of Monash University’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, as well as Professor Michael Holland of the University of Queensland.

The path-breaking results were recently published in Theriogenology, an internationally acclaimed journal for animal reproductive biologists.

“Otherwise known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), the technique can create any cell in the body, including reproductive cells or gametes,” an upbeat Verma told Indian Link

His breakthrough is particularly significant due to the difficulty of obtaining gametes, even from animals in captivity. Previously, the only way to harvest cells was to take embryonic stem cells from snow leopard embryos. For conservationists, captive breeding and in vitrio-fertilisation are currently the only options; but besides being costly and painfully invasive, they are plagued by problems such as inbreeding and low fertility.

“Once embryonic stem-like cells are created, they can be used as a donor cell to increase the efficiency of cloning or can be matured into eggs or sperm – making them essential building blocks for assisted reproductive technologies,” he further explained.

“The greatest advantage of this technology is that it is noninvasive. I know there is a lot of opposition to cloning and manipulating the environment. But if science can save some species from extinction, why not use it in a positive way,” Verma added.

According to Verma, this exciting new research on what has been dubbed as “potential test tube cubs” could also be extended to other threatened species. Verma is already working to replicate his success with other wild cats including the Bengal tiger, serval and jaguar.

The Lucknow lad’s obsession with wild cats goes a long way. “As a child growing up in India, I was always fascinated by these exotic species. I enjoyed going to the zoo and watching them, hoping to one day work with them,” he reminisced. And the fact that their numbers were rapidly dwindling, spurred him to act.

His only professional regret is the fact that his research specimens are normally sedated. “I enjoy patting them. Unfortunately, I can’t play with them like one would with cats or dogs,” he laments.

When his family migrated to Australia after his HSC, Verma opted to pursue a degree in biotechnology. In 2003, he joined Monash University working on bovine cloning. Over the years, he has diversified in all the veterinary reproductive techniques, including IVF, stem cells and cloning.

“To me, science is about always taking risks and entering uncharted territories with the aim of finding answers and cutting edge technologies,” said Verma.

As a PhD student, Verma therefore was keen to start research on the wildcat project even before the funding came through. “For me, this project was an opportunity to do something for the wild cats, but something for India as well, because tigers are such an integral part of Indian ethos,” he stated.

“Fortunately, with the support of Professor Bryan Williams, Director of Monash Institute of Medical Research, I received an institute scholarship to conduct this exciting work and things fell into place,” he continued.

Prompted by his recent breakthrough, Verma is already in talks with Indian conservation experts and forestry department officials, and hopes to one day establish a research centre for the conservation of India’s national animal.

“My research holds great potential for the Bengal tiger, to save the species from declining in numbers. Hopefully some fruitful collaboration could work out soon,” he added.

“By generating stem cells we’ve taken the first step in creating reproductive cells from adult tissues of an endangered animal. In the future, we aim to harness the potential of the iPS cells and create offspring. This would help save species from extinction,” he concluded.

However, as the double edged sword of funding and ethics hangs over the issue, Verma admitted that the dream of breeding endangered species in labs using artificial embryonic stem cells could still be years away.

Australia sees rise in Indian students’ applications

After a phase of decline in Indian students going to Australia, the continent nation is once again registering a rise in number of students applying for admissions to its universities.

Talking to IANS on the sidelines of a press meet, Australian High Commissioner Peter Varghese said around 30 percent increase has been noticed in number of applications for Australian universities so far.

“There has been a significant increase in number of applications received and the number of students applying for universities in Australia. The increase is almost 30 percent compared to last year,” Varghese said.

A major decline was noted in the number of Indian students going to Australia in 2010-11.

“Compared to the peak years of 2008 and 2009, there was nearly 40 percent drop,” Varghese said. The decline came close at heels with a number of incidents of violent attacks on Indian students in Australia. Varghese, however, said the incidents were not the main reason behind the decline.

“There was decline not just in the number of Indian students but in the number of international students from all countries. It was because of the overall economic scenario, and high (Australian) dollar value,” he said.

Ted Baillieu, the premier of Australia’s Victoria province, who is visiting India, also said that the number of students from India was increasing following special steps from the Australian government.

“We have started to see an increase again. The state has taken steps to ensure safety of the students and we are very serious about it,” Baillieu said, replying to a query.

“There is more patrolling, more police presence. We have taken it seriously,” he said.

More than 100 incidents of attacks against Indian students have been reported in 2009 and 2010 in Australia, mainly in its Victoria province.

Varghese says new visa rules are attracting more applications.

“The new visa rules allow students to stay for a few years after completing their degree and work, so more students are applying,” he says.

The new visa rules announced last year allow students to stay back from two to four years after getting degrees and also allow them to work.

Canberra had earlier tightened visa regime for Indian students, stating that a number of them come to Australia to settle down by taking admissions in non-skilled vocational courses like cookery and hair-cutting. It had implied that this was one of the reasons for a series of attacks on Indian youths here.

Indian heads US party’s state finance panel

Akshay Desai, who studied medicine in India, has been made the chief of the Republican Party of Florida’s finance committee.

“...I am grateful that Desai has agreed to accept this crucial role,” said RPOF’s chairperson Lenny Curry.

“In this election year, we need the resources for victory, and Desai’s long history of work for the state and our party make him a proven leader. A.K. and I are ready to roll up our sleeves and win,” a statement quoted Curry as saying.

Desai has been a member of the Florida State Board of Education since 2007.

He received his medical degree in India, and earned his Master’s in Public Health Administrative Medicine from the George Washington University.

Desai is currently president and CEO of Universal Health Care Group, which he founded in 2002, and serves the health care community through several associations. He previously served as commissioner and chairman of the Health Committee on the White House Commission on Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders 2005-08.

Indian-born Kamal Bawa wins award for sustainability work

Kamal Bawa, an Indian-born professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, is the 2012 winner of the Gunnerus Sustainability Award, the world’s first major international award for work on sustainability.

Bawa will receive the Gunnerus Gold Medal and the award of 1 million Norwegian Kronor (about $190,000) at a ceremony in Trondheim, Norway, the university said citing a Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters (DKNVS) announcement.

Bawa, also a faculty fellow at the Centre for Governance and Sustainability, home of the Global Environmental Governance Project, is known for his research on population biology in rainforest areas. His span of work includes biological discoveries made in Central America, the Western Ghats, and the Himalayas in India.

He is also noted for founding, and serving as president, of the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), a non-profit conservation and development research think tank in Bangalore.

“I am very pleased over the recognition that our work has received,” Bawa was quoted as saying in an interview with a Norwegian newspaper.

“In January, 2011, a University of Pennsylvania study ranked ATREE #19 among the environmental think tanks in the world, and implicitly #1 in Asia, and now the Gunnerus Award - I am naturally very happy.”

Until recently, Bawa held the Ruffolo Giorgio Fellowship in Sustainability Science and Bullard Fellowship at Harvard University.

The Gunnerus award is the first major international prize for outstanding scientific work that promotes sustainable development globally, and will be awarded every two years.

The award is named after DKNVS’ founder, Bishop Johan Ernst Gunnerus (1718-1773), and is the result of collaboration between DKNVS, Sparebank1, SMN, and the society Technoport.

Horse shows and tea dances: Remembering the once lazy capital

The 21st century metropolis of Delhi is kind of ruthless, clockwork and committed to the cause of furthering a new India. Its professional soul is a far cry from the lazy days of the early 20th century when the city lived in its horse shows, grand balls, jazz parties, nightclubs and tea rooms, says an Australia-based Indian writer and researcher.

Nayantara Pothen, who lives in Sydney, has documented the lifestyle of early 20th century Delhi in her debut non-fiction, Glittering Delhi: New Delhi in Love and War (Penguin India) to mark 100 years of the capital.

“The lifestyle of Delhi in the 19th century and early 20th century (till the 1930s) was hierarchical. Relationships between Indians and the British were kept separate. In the middle of the 20th century, friendships between the British and Indians flourished with the breaking down of walls between the whites and the natives,” Pothen said in New Delhi recently.

The British, “who were coming out in the 20th century from England were socialists and were interested in equality”, the writer said.

“They did didn’t believe in the British empire the way the 19th century ‘sahibs’ did. There were more intermingling and some good friendships continued even after independence. One such example is friendship between Jawaharlal Nehru and Lord Mountbatten. Even Khushwant Singh maintained his friendships with the British after independence,” Pothen said.

Pothen’s chronicle brings alive the capital’s social life between 1931 and 1952.

The new capital was inaugurated in 1931, 16 years before independence. The decade following the unveiling of the capital was one of transition - from the colonial to chaos and then the post-colonial, shaken by the struggle for freedom.

Some of the biggest events on the social calendar were the Delhi Horse Show week in February which ended with the coveted Viceroy’s Ball.

Once the magic of the horse show wore off in the 1930s, the residents of Delhi - which also included a sprinkling of Americans - warmed up to the idea of midnight dances. Golf and tennis were popular sports of government officers and society crowd.

“You had restaurants like Venger’s in Connaught Place which hosted tea dances with jazz bands. People went there in the late afternoon...The guest lists were usually mixed and by the 1940s, the native Indians and British were found sitting and dancing together,” the writer said.

It was a funny situation in the 1940s, Pothen said.

“The hierarchical clubs like the Gymkhana Club opened doors to token Indian members to come in, but with their wives... Many of the older Indian women were not comfortable with ballroom dancing. After

1947, the Punjabis began to come to Delhi and the club started to change,” Pothen said.

“The (Punjabi) men with long hair had to wear bathing caps...and Indian members had to present their social and financial credentials,” the writer said.

Inter-marriages were few and most of the mixed couples were found in the clubs during the 1930s and 1940s.

“The Indian families, where mixed weddings took place, were quite Westernised. The British men complained that the Indian families, despite their proximity to the colonial lot, were not modern but were very politically evolved...,” Pothen said.

The writer, who was born to a Malayali father and a north Indian mother from Dehradun, was inspired to write the book after she stumbled upon a photograph of her grandmother - glamorously attired - at a nightclub.

“I saw the photograph...and I thought what was this lovely Punjabi woman usually dressed in ‘salwar-kameez’ doing in a nightclub. I thought there is a story here. I went to the National Archives, Teen Murti Bhavan and London looking for papers, history and resource,” Pothen said.

In Delhi, the colonial legacy still remains. “It is something people grapple with and struggle with and deal with. I think colonialism gave India some tools for independence. The English language does in a way pull all corners of India,” she said.

The writer is currently working on the history of “diplomatic ties between India and Australia in 1940”.

For NRIs, Lucknow is a harbinger of change in UP

“I was mesmerised by the change,” says an excited Sifat Khan, a 21-year-old who grew up in Australia and visited poll-bound Lucknow this winter after four years. She was thrilled to find recreation spots, malls, well-lit roads and a changing lifestyle - not to mention the renovated commercial hub of Hazratganj.

Brainstorming by political parties may be in full swing in the current elections in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populated state of over 200 million people and around 120 million voters. But many of those from the state who live abroad are impressed with the development work and applaud Chief Minister Mayawati’s efforts, saying it’s no mean feat in this erstwhile city of nawabs and currently at the heart of a fierce political battle for control of the country’s most politically consequential state.

“One thing that caught my eye was the Ambedkar Memorial Park,” said Sifat, a medicine student based in Brisbane.

“The enormous and magnificent place drips with creativity. I was in awe of the 62 huge elephant statues welcoming me,” said Sifat.

“Another great transformation was how organised Hazratganj has become! I clearly recall being stuck in traffic for hours witnessing street fights and brawls just to get parking at this shopping centre. Now you see a wide expanded road with traffic lights and multi-storeyed parking and its shoppers delight,” she added.

Even though Maywati’s opponents are training the gun on her and say she has failed to bring development and has wasted and misused central government funds, outsiders are happy to see the new developments in the historical city, home to 4.5 million people, which is focusing on better infrastructure and safety.

For Sanjana Singh, travelling to the city of Lucknow from the US was a great experience.

“You keep hearing a lot of things on television but coming here gives a different picture. As an outsider you feel safe in the city and it offers good outing spots too.”

Many NRIs from Uttar Pradesh were holidaying in their native state in winter even as the state is in the middle of sevenphased assembly polls. Lucknow, which has a population of 4.5 million, voted recently.

Some local people complain that much of the construction work has benefited Mayawati’s brother who is in the construction business, but for Huma Khan, who works abroad as a consultant, what counts is the development effort in the city.

Hazratganj and Gomti Nagar area have changed remarkably, she said. “There are wide, three-laned, well-lit roads and there is the Ambedkar Smarak. It’s hard to believe it is the same Lucknow.”

And clearly they have a good word for

Mayawati, whose Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has been in power since 2007.

“Many chief ministers came and went, but it is only Mayawati who has tried to develop the city. The connectivity to the heart of the city (Hazrarganj) and the airport are a sea change compared to earlier days,” Huma Khan said.

The development is not centred in the state capital alone, points out London-based Samrat Basu, who used to dread travelling by road earlier. He says it is a delight to take a road trip between Lucknow and Banda now.

“My visit this time was exceptional. I started my journey from Delhi to Banda and I was very happy to catch the train UP Sampark Kranti. The journey was very comfortable and safe,” he said.

And he had a similar experience from Banda to Lucknow.

“The travel to Lucknow from Banda by train used to be a nightmare due to erratic departure timings and trouble in boarding. So this time someone suggested I travel by road. I was not confident, but was amazed to see the construction of a long bridge on the Yamuna river near Chilla Ghat. This particular improvement by the Uttar Pradesh government has connected Banda so well with many cities by road. It took us only four hours to reach Lucknow and we enjoyed the trip,” Basu said.

“I must thank Mayawatiji for her enormous contribution and vision to develop this city. We loved the advancement.”

I hold master key to power, thunders Mayawati

“I hold the master key to power,” thundered Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati at an election rally in Agra recently, in which she blasted Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

Addressing thousands at Kothi Meena Bazar ground, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief called upon Agra’s Dalits to vote for her if they wanted a Dalit to remain at the helm of affairs.

Calling Rahul Gandhi a “Yuvraj”, she said: “If you vote for the Congress, all the poor and unemployed would have to go to other states to earn their livelihood.” businessmen would be without work if the Congress allowed foreign direct investment in retail sector. had hurt the feelings of Dalits by ordering the covering up of elephant statues across Uttar Pradesh because the animal was the election symbol of her party.

A victory of the Samajwadi Party in the ongoing assembly elections would only usher in “goonda, badmash and mafia-run jungle raj”, she warned.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), she said, would only bring back communal and feudal politics.

“The state under BSP has been free of communal tensions and people have lived in amity,” she said, referring to the five years since 2007 when the BSP took power on its own.

In her 50-minute speech, she made fun of the claims of other political outfits.

She accused the Congress-led central government of creating hurdles in Uttar Pradesh’s development.

“The high court benches in Meerut and Agra have to be cleared by the centre. Many of our financial problems are the result of centre’s lack of support,” Mayawati charged. Ending her speech on an emotive note, Mayawati said: “If you want a Dalit ki beti (Dalit’s daughter) as your chief minister again, vote for the BSP.” election manifestos.

And in a mocking tone, she thanked the media for giving the elephants and her party so much publicity for free.

In 2007, the BSP won six of nine seats in Agra district.

Regulator reviews situation, asks Kingfisher for revised schedule

The Director General of Civil Aviation said it had asked crisis-hit carrier Kingfisher to come up with a revised flight schedule immediately and that it would be monitoring the airline which continued to operate a largely-truncated fleet.

Director General of Civil Aviation E.K. Bharat Bhushan met Sanjay Aggarwal, chief executive of the Vijay Mallya-promoted carrier to seek explanation from the airline.

The airline is currently operating only about 28 of its 64 planes.

“We don’t want customers to be affected. Currently they have 28 aircraft. Have asked them to come up with a revised schedule immediately,” Bhushan told reporters in New Delhi after meeting Aggarwal.

The regulator, however, ruled out any punitive action against Kingfisher at this point in time.

Kingfisher has virtually shut down its flights from Kolkata and brought down frequencies on several of its sectors, rendering many passengers stranded or opting for other carriers in spite of the last minute tickets costing a lot more.

“Kolkata station of Kingfisher, they have not had any flights since a couple of days.

by the management that the December salaries will be paid by the end of February and by March 20 they will be able to clear the salary and arrears of January.”

Kingfisher, on its part, said it hoped to increase the number of flights in the next few days.

“Most of the flights cancelled in the last few days will be in action in next four to five days,” said Aggarwal.

Operations of cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines continued to be disrupted even as the government reiterated that it will not bailout the Vijay Mallya-led carrier.

“Government is not going to give any bailout or ask the banks to bailout any private airline or any private industry for that matter,” Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh told reporters.

According to Singh, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is looking into the matter and is awaiting a reply from the airline.

“DGCA is inquiring into the matter. Our first concern is about the ongoing flights and that passenger safety should not be compromised. Let us see what reply they (Kingfisher Airlines) give,” Singh said.

Singh blamed the crisis on the airline management for not paying its employees as a reason behind the recent strike in Kolkata.

“They did not give salary to their employees for many months, people went on strike in Kolkata. Naturally, the flights got cancelled,” Singh said.

“We have called for the cancellation data from all over the country. They did not inform us of any cancellation plans,” DGCA director general E.K. Bharat Bhusan said.

“This is unprecedented act which has led violated civil aviation requirements (CAR) regulations which ensures compensation to the passengers in case of denied boarding, cancellations and delays.

A KFA spokesperson blamed the flight disruptions on certain unexpected incidents like ‘bird hits’ which rendered its aircraft unserviceable.

The flight disruptions are expected to continue for a few more days, but the carrier has not shut down nor does it plan to close down any stations, the official said.

“The speculation that we are reducing our operating schedule from 240 flights a day are ill-founded, as we will operate the full schedule on our booking system soon,” the spokesperson added.

While admitting that its bank accounts have been attached by the Income Tax Department, KFA said in the past also similar issues have happened and they have been resolved.

The developments come after high fuel costs and falling revenue resulted in KFA losses in the third quarter of the current fiscal mounting to Rs.444 crore from a net loss of Rs.254 crore suffered in the like quarter of 2010-11.

For Kashmiri Hindus and Muslims, Shivratri bridges a gap

As bells tolled in the temples of Lord Shiva recently, what emerged was a heartening story of healing wounds between Hindus and Muslims - wounds inflicted by years of insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir.

For the Hindus, better known as Kashmiri Pandits, Shivratri is the biggest festival on the calendar. And a scene that played out repeatedly this year in areas dominated by

“I couldn’t believe my eyes that it was Arshad, my childhood friend, who came to meet me on this big day of ours,” said Kuldeep Raina.

“Trust me, I am the happiest person today. It seems nothing has changed between us in all these years,” said Kuldeep.

Both Arshad Hussain and Kuldeep belong to village Akoor, near Mattan in Anantnag district of south Kashmir, some 60 km north of Srinagar. But due to militancy, Kuldeep had to leave for a camp in Jagti years ago.

Arshad said: “I knew Kuldeep was living here and I thought there could be no better day than this festival when I should visit my friend.”

For Kashmiri Hindus, nightlong prayers at home are followed by a visit to the temple on Shivratri. They also host a feast for friends the next day, known as Salam.

Until militancy broke out in 1989, it was common for Kashmiri Pandits to host lunches for their Muslim friends and neighbours. The Muslims used to look forward to delicacies like fish and mutton balls.

But all that changed after community members migrated to Jammu and other parts of the country.

More than 350,000 Kashmiri Pandits had come out of the valley, many of whom are still settled in Jammu. The Pandits have since suffered from a sense of injustice and persecution.

But the anger against militants and their sympathisers whom the Pandits blame for the forced life in exile - as Kashmiri Pandit leaders like Ashwani Churngoo call it - seems to have subsided, going by the sentiment among community members.

For instance, Mushtaq Ahmad waited for a Kashmiri Pandit family outside Ranishewar temple, housing an icon of Lord Shiva, in the rain, just to hug his friends and congratulate them.

Mushtaq, who is a government employee, went to the home of his friend Sushil Kaul in Janipur, but was told by neighbours that the family had gone to the temple. He headed straight for the shrine.

When Sushil and Mushtaq sighted each other, they couldn’t stop embracing. Tears rolled down their cheeks, retelling the story of two friends being back together on this “bor doh” or dig day.

Perhaps what made a difference this year was that many Kashmiri Pandit youths could go back to the valley after being specially recruited under the Prime Minister’s relief and rehabilitation package programme.

Community members surmised that the measure may have gone a long way in helping bring down the walls of mistrust and encouraging the two communities to reverse the clock to their good old days when they shared each other’s joys and sorrows.

Arshad and Kuldeep would certainly testify to that after partaking of their noon meal together.

Indians celebrate Mahashivratri in ancient Pakistani temple

After a six-year gap, a group of pilgrims from India recently celebrated Mahashivratri in a Hindu temple said to have been built more than 900 years ago.

Fifty Hindus from India marked the festival at Katasraj in Punjab province, reported the Daily Times.

The place is considered sacred due to a pond, which, according to Hindu mythology was formed from Lord Shiva’s tears.

It is also said that the Pandava brothers stayed in the temple region for four out of the 14 years they spent in exile.

The Indian delegation, which reached Lahore through the Wagah border, was met by Evacuee Trust Property Board Pakistan chairman Asif Hashmi. The delegation returns to India in a few days.

The report said the last delegation of Hindus visited Pakistan in 2006.

In 2006-07, Pakistan decided to place idols of Hindu gods in the temples and restore them to their original state to attract Hindu visitors.

“Minorities present here in Pakistan are given full freedom to celebrate their holy events,” Hindu Welfare Council Chairman Shiv Pratap Raj was quoted as saying.

Trade potential making India, Pakistan lift barriers

It is not often that some 150 of India’s top corporate leaders visit Pakistan. And when that happened recently, led by Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, it had the desired impact.

He was also the first Indian trade minister to visit Pakistan in more than three decades. Islamabad attached a lot of importance to the visit -- Sharma’s host and Pakistani counterpart Makhdoom Mohammad Amin Fahim was at the border to receive him.

Realising the potential the two sides hold for bilateral trade -- estimated now at $2.7 billion officially, and some five-times more routed through third countries -- they decided it was time to move ahead and make it easier for at least commerce to flourish.

Given the long history of conflicts and distrust, there were no expectations from either side of an overnight change in relations. But the beginning was good -visible during the meetings between business leaders in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.

“Ours is a history of missed opportunities. We certainly don’t want to leave behind the same environment for our children,” said Sharma.

“This is, indeed, a big step forward in normailising business relations between two neighbours,” the minister told IANS here.

The visit was a high-point of the slow but steady progress that was being made over the past 10 months to strengthen trade and business ties beginning with the secretarylevel talks in Pakistani capital, and another round in New Delhi.

An important outcome last week was Islamabad’s commitment to grant mostfavoured nation (MFN) status to India by the end of this year -- which will pave the way for Pakistan to import four-times many more items from India.

India granted a similar status to Pakistan in 1996.

“We have prepared a roadmap -- a roadmap we are going to have a very good business and economic relations with India,” Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Makhdoom Mohammad Amin Fahim said, adding easier business visa and import norms were a part of this agenda.

The five-day visit, which also covered Pakistan’s commercial capital and port city of Karachi and Lahore, besides Islamabad, gave an opportunity for people to see one of the largest “India Shows” and attend several business conclaves.

The business delegates were visibly pleased by the outcome at these meetings.

“It’s not peace that leads to trade -- but it’s trade that leads to peace,” said R.V. Kanoria, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci).

Some of the tangible results were:

- Commitment to finalise by next month easier visa norms

- A dedicated Attari-Wagah gate by April 30 to facilitate movement of goods

- Look at export of petroleum products to Pakistan by Indian refineries

- Promise to look into investments by Pakistani businesses in India

- Look at reciprocal possibilities of Pakistani and Indian banks opening branches

India’s trade with Pakistan is just 0.5 percent of its total global trade. This is a far cry from 1947 when the two nations gained independence. India’s trade with Pakistan then accounted for nearly 60 percent of its global engagement.

“As neighbours, we should be natural trading partners,” Sharma said adding this was reflected in the large volume of informal trade the businesses of the two sides engage in through third countries and illegal routes.

“There is no official figure but informal trade would be probably five times more,” said Sharma, referring to actual recorded figure of $2.7 billion in 2010-11 in which exports from India were valued at $2.3 billion and imports at around $400 million.

Looking forward the next few months are going to be busy, going by the commitments made. Officials from Indian and Pakistani central banks are to meet in Mumbai early next month to finalise the modalities for opening bank branches on reciprocal basis.

The first meeting of the expert group on trade in petroleum products will also be held in March in New Delhi to facilitate the export of transport fuels to Pakistan. There will also be a meeting of working group on trade in electricity in Lahore next month.

The commerce ministry also told the Pakistani side that it has already requested the finance ministry to consider foreign investment from Pakistan and bring about all the necessary changes changes in the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

On its part, Islamabad said it will move from a positive to negative list on items of import from India -- which means, only those items that are banned will be listed and all the other products can be freely imported.

These were not outcomes that can be brushed aside, business leaders said. Even the joint statement issued by Ministers Sharma and Fahim said reflected the business and political leadership of the two sides had lent their unequivocal support to normalising ties.

Indeed, as the statement said: “Accompanied by more than 100 business delegates, this visit marks a historic moment for both the countries.”