Seeking to enhance the economic cooperation with Islamabad, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Friday told Pakistan that it made "no sense" for the two neighbouring nations to trade via a third country.
"That we have to depend on third countries for bilateral trade despite sharing a 2,000 km long border is beyond comprehension," Vajpayee said in his Independence Day address to the nation.
"We should increase the trade and economic links between our two countries. When we share a 2,000 km long border, it makes no sense for us to trade via a third country," he said.
He said the two countries needed to fight poverty, unemployment and backwardness.
It may be recalled that though New Delhi has accorded the most favoured nation status to Pakistan, Islamabad is yet to reciprocate the facility to India.
In the absence of a developed official trade route between the two countries, Indo-Pak trade is routed through Dubai and other Gulf nations.