During negotiations with the US for reopening NATO supply routes, the government reportedly demanded between $1,800 and $2,000 as the fee for every container and tanker passing through the country.
Earlier, the US had refused to accept Pakistan’s demand of $5,000 a truck.
Since then, negotiations have been underway and the government has now proposed a fee of between $1,800 and $2,000.
“Once the deal is finalised, it will end the standoff between the US and Pakistan over the NATO supply routes, which started in November over the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a NATO airstrike on Salala checkpost,” a government official said on Monday.
He said Pakistan could no longer bear the US pressure for reopening the NATO routes as the country’s financial interests were attached to the issue. On the other hand, the Difa-e-Pakistan Council, a grouping of over 40 hardliner groups under Hafiz Saeed, has warned that it would organise a “long march” if the federal government reopened the NATO supply routes. “We have also learnt that the Pakistani government has almost agreed to reopen the NATO routes by charging $2,000 dollars from the US for each truck,” said Jamaat-e-Islami chief Munawar Hassan, who is part of the DPC. He said Pakistan was facing “extreme pressure” from the US in this regard. “We think the government cannot sustain the American pressure and it will surely reopen the NATO supply routes in the near future,” he said.
Pakistan eyeing $2,000 for each NATO truck
