Pakistan allows more imports from India

The goods included machinery as well as raw materials for leather and textile industries, Xinhua quoted unnamed officials as saying Monday. Both countries have been trying to boost their trade following a recent thaw in ties.

Pakistan recently said it will grant India most favoured nation (MFN) status as part of efforts to help normalize trade ties. India gave Pakistan MFN status in 1996.

The commerce ministry had urged the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), the top decision-making body on economic affairs, to increase the number of import items from India.

India-Pakistan trade is logged at $2.5 billion in 2010-11 and the two countries are targeting to double this in the next five years.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh have hailed the progress in diplomatic ties and promised a "new chapter" in relations when they met on the sidelines of a regional summit in the Maldives recently.