Afghan transit trade facility: no mention of Delhi-Kabul route in the agreement

Pakistan has reportedly refused to extend road transit facilities to India for trade with Afghanistan, which was a longstanding demand of New Delhi, having been conveyed to Islamabad through different international channels, sources told Business Recorder on Friday.
"There is no mention of India in the final draft we formulated on Thursday at a meeting with the Afghan team. All stakeholders were present in the negotiations," sources said. The final draft will be submitted to the Cabinet for approval, before signing the new Afghan-Pakistan Trade Agreement (APTA), they added.
Sources said that whatever the viewpoint of America, or Afghanistan, Pakistan has to take decisions that are in its own national interest. Commerce Ministry has, reportedly, not submitted the new draft of APTA to the Cabinet sent by the Afghan government, "being too laborious".
"A draft APTA, prepared by the Afghan government, was received by Pakistan Embassy in Kabul on November 18, 2008. The draft, including its protocols, is quite voluminous, consisting of 66 pages, and salient features have been attached with the summary," sources quoted Commerce Ministry as justification for not submitting the entire draft.
A para of the proposed draft states: "A new transit agreement is required not only to continue to provide Afghanistan with access to the sea through Pakistan but also to provide Afghanistan with new land routes towards China and India through Pakistan as well as Pakistan with direct routes to the Central Asian States (CAR) through Afghanistan" from the top decision making body.
Suleman Ghani, Secretary, Commerce, in a detailed talk with this correspondent clarified that Pakistan is re-negotiating transit trade agreement with Afghanistan, and not with India. "We are re-negotiating transit trade agreement with Afghanistan because the current agreement is outdated and unfavourable to Pakistan," he said.
He said that the current Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA), which was signed in 1965, does not contain provision for transit trade to Central Asian Republics (CARs) through Afghanistan, "which is an impediment to Pakistan''s aspirations to become a gateway for transit trade" to Central Asia.
"At the time the agreement was signed there was no prospect of trade with CARs. There was a little smuggling of goods at the time of signing the ATTA so much so that the government at that time had encouraged establishment of Bara market in Landi Kotal" he added.
Regarding recent controversy over APTA with special reference to providing transit facilities to India for trade with Afghanistan, he said that Pakistan''s existing arrangement with Afghanistan allows any country to trade with Kabul through sea ports.
"As far as land route is concerned, Afghanistan can export its goods to India through Wagha border, but this facility is not available to India," Ghani said. "Trade agreement in place between the two neighbouring countries grants and guarantees freedom of transit of goods without reservation. Because of this, the Afghan government objects to the negative list imposed by Pakistan," said other sources.
Another flaw in the ATTA is that it restricts transportation of Afghan cargo through Pakistan Railways only, while much of the cargo is now being transported by National Logistics Cell (NLC), sources added. A third flaw in the agreement is that it provides for movement of Afghan cargo through one sea port ie Karachi, whereas Pakistan now has three operational sea ports--Karachi, Port Qasim and Gwadar.
According to sources, customs and other procedures, stipulated in the ATTA 1965 are outdated and provide opportunity for pilferage and smuggling. "Now we are re-negotiating the agreement with only Afghanistan in the light of our best national interests ie transit facilities for CARs and improvement in system to eliminate smuggling or at least reducing it," Ghani said.
According to the draft, the main purpose of the proposed agreement is to (i) ensure efficient and effective administration of transit transport, avoiding unnecessary delays in the movement of goods and commercial vehicles in transit through their territories; (ii) to bring about simplification, transparency and harmonisation of documentation and procedures relevant to cross border traffic and traffic in transit; (iii) to promote the use of containers in accordance with the general trend of development of containerisation, (iv) to minimise the incidence of customs fraud and avoidance; and (v) to monitor the trade of controlled chemical substances with the aim of preventing their diversion to illicit purposes (manufacture of narcotic drugs). "In all this there is no India as we have separate bilateral arrangements with New Delhi for trade," Ghani added.
MAIN PROVISIONS: The most convenient routes used for international traffic in transit, including going to third countries, through Pakistan and Afghanistan include:
1) Road and rail links between Pakistan''s ports and Afghanistan; and (2) transit corridors connecting land border stations between Pakistan and Afghanistan and their respective neighbouring countries, India and China for Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran for Afghanistan.
"As Afghanistan is already exporting its goods to India through Pakistan and demands identical facilities for India, we will examine the proposal in accordance with our bilateral arrangement and composite dialogues," Ghani said. He said that this demand could not be seen outside the bilateral arrangements, explaining "there is no danger of any slippage in that manner, we are very clear".
With reference to the impression in India that Pakistan is being compelled by the US to provide transit facility to New Delhi for trade with Kabul, he categorically stated that irrespective of what India may want, Pakistan would negotiate to ensure that its national interests are served.
"In the first meeting on APTA held on Thursday, neither the USA nor India was present because these were just bilateral deliberations," Ghani said. Commenting on the ''hidden'' American pressure on Pakistan for provision of land route to India for Afghanistan, he said: "You are seeing American pressure; but I as negotiator and Secretary, Commerce, do not see such a thing". He said that nobody was pushing him as he was running the office of Secretary Commerce and not anybody else.
This reporter cited a passage from the MoU signed in Washington between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan under the auspices of Hillary Clinton that led many an analyst to argue that India was exerting considerable pressure to compel Pakistan to open its land for transit trade with Afghanistan: "the Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan commit to realise the advantages of greater regional and global trade linkages and export-oriented business development." Asked if the use of the word ''regional'' in the MoU may open the door for India, Ghani said: "This is ridiculous. I am tired of it. There is no confusion, except in your mind."