In News:

• Amid the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan, and India’s withdrawal of the most favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan, tea exporters and producers are looking at alternative markets such as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) nations and West Asian countries to sell their produce.

Explained:

• Usually, Pakistan buys average quality tea from India, comprising mostly of dust and fanning, priced around $1.45 a kilo. Besides, tea is also routed to Pakistan via Dubai.
• The type of tea that goes to Pakistan can be routed and sold in Egypt, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and other east European nations.
• Exporters are unsure how Indo-Pak relations will play up in the near term, which might affect the payments from the sales.

CIS:

• The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization focused on cooperation on political, economic, environmental, humanitarian, cultural and other issues between a number of former Soviet Republics.
• On December 8, 1991 in Minsk the Agreement on the Establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States was signed by the heads of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. According to the CIS Charter, the Council of the Heads of State is the supreme body of the Commonwealth, which discusses and resolves fundamental issues related to the activities of member states in the field of their common interests.
• Meetings of the Council of the Heads of Government, the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Economic Council of the CIS are also held on a regular basis to discuss issues of interstate cooperation within the framework of the CIS.

Membership:

• 12 States — Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.