Pakistan is to extend Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the US till January 31, 2018 for transit of cargoes to and from Afghanistan through the territory of Pakistan, as Nato has provided legal authority to Islamabad to auction/dispose of containers stuck in Karachi port as per the law for reimbursement of outstanding dues, well informed sources told Business Recorder.
Pakistan 's Ministry of Defence had signed an MoU with the US for a period of three years (ending on December 31, 2015) to establish necessary measures and procedures to organize the transit of US cargo through the territory of Pakistan, using Ground Lines of Communication (GLOCs) to and from Afghanistan.
However, on the request of the US side and in consultation with stakeholders, the Prime Minister extended the validity of the MoU for another year till December 31, 2016. The validity of the MoU was further extended upto Mar 31, May 31 and Aug, 31 2017 in order to revise/finalize the ToRs and the MoU.
The sources said few contentious issues such as duration of applicability of the proposed MoU, its legality and the outstanding payment of services rendered by Pakistan have been extensively negotiated.
Through concerted efforts of MoD and other stakeholders, the US authorities agreed that duration of applicability of the MoU would be one year and its extension would be negotiated six months prior to its expiry, the sources continued.
"The long outstanding issue of Nato's containers stuck in Karachi port, their payment modalities and further disposal have also been favourably negotiated and the concerned Nato authorities have been successfully re-engaged after a gap of three years," the sources maintained.
Consequently, the Nato Headquarters has recently provided legal authority to Pakistan for auction/disposal of the such containers as per laws for reimbursement of outstanding dues. Formalities to implement the disposal of stuck up containers are currently in progress.
"There are still a few points which have not been settled between the two sides especially the clauses pertaining to delineation of clear responsibility for payment of dues. Negotiations to settle these differences are ongoing and are likely to take some more time", the sources said, adding that the announcement of new Afghan policy by the US government has also become a point of concern for Pakistan and an early finalization of the MoU under the current environment is not considered prudent. The sources said, Ministry of Defence has proposed that the validity period of the existing MoU may further be extended for another duration of four months up to January 31, 2018.
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