Approval of APTTA: opposition parties reject government's decision

Opposition parties in the Parliament have rejected the government's decision to approve Pakistan-Afghanistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA). When contacted by this scribe no one from Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) was available for comments on the issue.
Pakistan Muslim League-Q's central leader Kamal Ali Agha termed the decision as anti-Pakistan and said that the government has not taken the parliament into confidence prior to approval of the pact. Pakistan has signed the pact with Afghanistan in July on the pressure of United States, which would destroy local economy, as all the items that would be traded under agreement would sneak back into Pakistan, he said.
The government should have pressed India to resolve all the pending disputes, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir before extending such a concession to India, Kamal remarked. He said that the government before approving the pact did not take the nation into confidence. He feared that the India would exploit the situation and added that by giving transit trade facility to Afghanistan along with India is a suicidal economic move.
Salim Saifullah, president PML-Q (like-minded group) commenting on the issue said that the government has bypassed the parliament and has not placed the issue in the National Assembly and the Senate. "We were informed by the government that it has signed only an MoU with the Afghan and Indian governments and would sign the agreement after taking the parliament into confidence, but it has not fulfilled the promise" he added.
However, if the trade would have been reciprocal his party would have supported the agreement, he maintained. Jamaat-i-Islami Secretary General, Liaquat Baloch while rejecting the government decision said that it should cancel the pact signed on the dictations of US Secretary of States Hilary Clinton immediately. He said that until the resolution of Kashmir and other long standing issues, Pakistan should not have extended trade facility to India. Liaquat Baloch was of the view that the pact will benefit India instead of Pakistan.