Controversial trade accord with Afghanistan: MoC to brief National Assembly panel today

Ministry of Commerce is to brief the National Assembly''s Standing Committee on Commerce on Thursday (today) on the controversial revised trade agreement with Afghanistan. Pakistan has signed the agreed record notes but the decisions taken by the political leadership of both the countries are yet to be formally signed in a legally binding agreement.
To be presided over by Engineer Khurram Dastgir, the committee will seek clarifications from the Commerce Secretary and other concerned officers. Official sources told Business Recorder that Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Commerce Ministry and other stakeholders have already cleared the language of the agreement without taking the country''s top leadership into confidence.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, sources said, had directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Commerce to jointly give a presentation to national leaders to remove their apprehensions. The top brass of Commerce Ministry, however, is worried that national leaders would criticise the agreement, especially the clause that offers a ''side letter'' that would allow for Indian goods to be transported through Wahgah border to Afghanistan at a future date.
Provincial governments have also raised their voice against the federal government for not taking them into confidence over the controversial agreement. Commerce Ministry claims that the General Headquarters (GHQ) and Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) were taken on board before the ''record notes'' were signed with the Afghan delegation.