Whatever the claims and justification of the quarters concerned be, Pakistan’s economic disorder could be enhanced by the recent agreement between NATO and Central Asian Republics (CARs) regarding supplies to Afghanistan.
Pakistan banned supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan in reaction to the Salala checkpost strike on November 26, 2011. At least 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in the attack.
The case was later transferred to parliament, which asked for resuming of the supplies under certain terms and conditions. But government has been unable to restore the supplies as around 40 religious parties, groups, factions and individuals, who have established Pakistan Defense Council oppose the decision. Due to the unending delay, NATO had approached CARs for supplies to its forces. According to the latest agreement, NATO will send supplies to its troops via certain CARs.
Zia Ul Haq Sarhadi, who is affiliated with Pak-Afghan Transit Trade since long, said the NATO-CARs agreement was “death of Pakistan’s economy in general and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA’s in particular”. Elaborating, Sarhadi recalled that almost all people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA were depending on trade with Afghanistan. He said Pakistan was already facing severe economic problems and loosing transit trade with Afghanistan could be a blow to its economy. Sarhadi said that a couple of years back, Pakistan had introduced one-side amendments to the 1965 Pak-Afghan Transit Trade agreement and as a result, more than 70 percent of the transit trade from Afghanistan had shifted to Iran’s Bandar Abbass and Uzbekistan-Hairatan. He added that NATO was left with no other option but to approach CARs for continuing supplies to its troops in Afghanistan. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told reporters on Wednesday that the NATO-CARs agreement was harmful to the interests of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Tribal Areas. He said almost all transit trade had already shifted to Iran and other Central Asian countries and the fresh agreement could bring an end to Pak-Afghan Transit Trade. Hussain said that as a result of the ban on supplies to NATO troops camping across the border in Afghanistan, Pakistan had become isolated in the global community and held the religious forces responsible for the loss.
