India, Pak need to be careful of forces to harm ties

"We have to be careful. There are entities, forces which are not entirely on the same page when it comes to normalisation of trade relations. There are demons within and forces outside. We have to keep our fingers crossed, take the necessary administrative actions so that no aberration or derailment takes place of the kinds that we have experienced in the past which holds us to ransom," India`s Permanent Representative to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said addressing an event on Indo-Pak trade ties at Mastercard`s headquarters in Purchase near here.

Puri described discussions to grant Most Favoured Nation status to India, open more border trade routes and allow movement of businessmen as being "steady steps in the positive direction" and those that have the potential to be a "game-changer" for the two nations if managed properly. "The political leadership in India and in Pakistan now are resolved to make sure things really get better," he said. Puri`s Pakistani counterpart Abdullah Hussain Haroon said in order to sustain this progress, the two countries "have to keep talking" with each other and realise the "strong interdependence" that exists between India and Pakistan.