Pakistan importing tomato from Afghanistan, Iran

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Pakistan and Iran, refusing to relax conditions for trade with India.

Relations between Islamabad and New Delhi have long been strained on several issues, including their long-running dispute over Kashmir.

Tomato prices recently shot up to Rs200 a kilogram due to a shortage of the vegetable in Pakistani markets. The domestic crop is expected to ripe in a couple of weeks.

On Monday, 14 trucks of tomato arrived in Lahore from Kabul, with another 17 trucks expected to reach the capital of Punjb today (Tuesday), The News reported.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan denied the import of tomato from India.

Given Pakistan's growing demand, Indian vegetable exporters have been bringing hundreds of tomato-laden trucks to Amritsar for export.

But the tomato could not find their way to Pakistan because of quarantine laws, which Islamabad is unwilling to relax.

Lahore division needs 50 trucks of tomato daily but the supply is not even 20 trucks. Local traders, therefore, are negotiating imports from Afghanistan and Iran.

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