Pak says no to Nokia mobile phones made in Chennai

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Islamabad, Apr 19 : Stretching its reservations on imports from India to multinational companies, Pakistan is understood to have informed mobile handset maker Nokia not to sell phones made in India in the Islamic nation. The reservations of Pakistan in receiving such mobile phones apparently were conveyed to Nokia through authorised cell phone distributors, who have asked the company not to ship Indian made handsets into Pakistan on the ground that consumers may not like it.

The company, which has a facility near Chennai, has accepted the distributors’ plea, Dawn reported. Nokia India started exporting mobile handsets from its plant at Sriperumbudur, in Chennai, from the middle of last year. Due to the availability of cheaper raw material in India, there is a possibility that the Indian-made mobile phones may be slightly cheaper compared to cell phones produced by the company in Germany, Hungary and China.

Director United Mobile Ejaz Hassan told Dawn on Wednesday that Nokia had asked the Pakistani distributors over the possibility of making shipments from India two months back.

“The three to four authorised distributors of Nokia in Pakistan have offered their regrets to Nokia as they think that consumers will give a cold response to the Indian product,” he said, adding that the company has accepted the request.

The government had not allowed the entry of Indian made mobile phone sets in Pakistan and it may not allow the same in future, the newspaper said as Pakistan traded with India through a positive and negative list. And the mobile phones are currently on the negative list.