US Defense Secretary Leon E Panetta heads to this weekend’s NATO summit prepared to confront Pakistan over what he considers price-gouging for transport of supplies to Afghanistan and hoping for a “consensus” among allies over the war effort.
In an interview before his arrival in Chicago, where the summit is scheduled to begin today (Sunday), Panetta all but ruled out paying Pakistan $5,000 for each truck carrying supplies across its territory for NATO troops waging the Afghan war. Pakistani officials have demanded that amount as a condition for reopening supply routes that have been closed to the alliance since fall.
“Considering the financial challenges that we’re facing, that’s not likely,” Panetta said of the demand. Before the supply routes were closed in November after a mistaken US attack on two remote Pakistani border posts that killed two dozen Pakistani troops, NATO convoys were paying an average of about $250 a truck, a senior US official said.
US officials say they were hopeful they could resolve the dispute, perhaps at the summit. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari accepted a last-minute invitation to attend the meetings, although he is not expected to meet one-on-one with President Obama, officials said. Thousands of trucks a day carrying supplies would go through multiple border crossings from Pakistan to Afghanistan, making the fees a potentially massive source of revenue for the cash-strapped government in Islamabad. The US has shifted deliveries to different routes through Russia and other countries to Afghanistan’s north. But the massive withdrawals of equipment due to unfold over the next two-and-a-half years as troops leave the country will be “significantly” more difficult if routes in Pakistan aren’t used, the Pentagon acknowledged in a report last month.
We can not allow our 'Ghairat' to be throttled under feet for less than $5000.
Beggars are not chosers. What part of that statement Pakistan missed? From 250$ to 5000$ per container? Not very smart you Pakis are, are you? US is far too strong to even increase a dollar more. So dream on Pakistan, for you wont be getting those 250$ per container too if US choses an alternate route. As far as China is concerned, I dont see no aid money flowing in from their end, no major business with them as compared to their lucrative business with your enemy India. You can eat ur food from the scraps of Chinese Quality Jf-17s. And the thing about Chinese quality is, it is worse than ur economy.
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