An United Planters Association of South India (Upasi) delegation which visited Karachi on May 14 received a warm welcome from the Pakistani side, the delegation head and Upasi tea committee chairman M H Ashraff said.

"Sample teas carried by us were tasted by Pakistan Tea Association members and all of them appreciated the quality of our tea," he said. Indian tea was rated on par with the quality of Kenyan tea and following the visit many big producers in south India were getting enquiries from Pakistan, he said.

When asked if the nuclear tests would have any effect on trade to Pakistan especially at a time when shipments of tea and tyres had resumed, commerce secretary P P Prabhu said trade between neighbouring countries would not be affected."We have notreceived any reports of the trade being affected due to the current strain in the relations," he said.However, Indian Tea Association chairman G P Goenka said the strained ties could prevent India from making more inroads into the Pakistan tea market. "In the current environment, there is no question of pursuing our efforts to push Indian tea vigorously into the Pakistan market," he said. Even in the current scenario, very little tea was going through official channel, while majority of exports took place through land routes, he said. During 1997-98, Indian exported three million kg of tea to Pakistan, Ashraff said. The tea industry is looking towards a major breakthrough in the Pakistan tea market, which consumes nearly 140 million kg of the beverage annually. Most of the supplies for Islamabad are routed from Kenya, which enjoys majority share in that market, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Industry experts feel that even if india could garner a small portion of the huge market, it would do good to improveexports, which looked up last year on crop failure in Kenya and Indonesia after declining for four years. Pakistan would also benefit from Indian imports as freight costs could decline sharply.