Though relations between India and Pakistan are not as good as it should be but this has not deterred them from cotton business. Purchasing about 25 lakh bales (a bale weighs 170 kg) which is about 40 per cent of the shipments of the fibre from India so far in the 2015-16 season, Pakistan has emerged the largest buyer of Indian cotton (October-September), trade and industry officials said. The country has so far exported about 65 lakh bales of cotton in the 2015-16 season.

Cotton production in Pakistan is estimated to have fallen by 35 per cent to around 97 lakh bales in 2015-16 season. It usually imports about 12 lakh bales of cotton a year. India is the largest producer of cotton in the world with the Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) pegging production for the 2015-16 season at 338 lakh bales.