Pakistan exports sugar from India

Two Pakistani companies have placed orders for the import of sugar from India, for the first time since the Kargil conflict last year.

The military government of Pakistan is allowing sugar to be imported from India, to alleviate the country's sugar shortage.

The Indian Minister for Consumer Affairs, Shanta Kumar, told the BBC that India has no problem with exporting sugar to Pakistan, despite the tensions caused by last year's conflict. Correspondents say there has been controversy in the past over the sugar trade between the two countries.

The Indian Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, was accused two years ago of giving concessions to the then Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, over Pakistani exports of sugar to India.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service