Vice Chairman, All Pakistan Customs Agents Association (APCAA) and president, Frontier Customs Agents Group (FCAG), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi has said that the failure of Afghanistan in sending her proposals regarding trade access to India through Wagha border has put Pak-Afghan talks on TIRs into doldrums.
In a statement issued here Saturday, Sarhadi said that Afghanistan was required to send its proposals regarding trade access to India through Wagha and inclusion of TIR Convention 1975 in Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA) and the failure of Afghanistan has prompted Pakistan to decline further negotiations in this regard.
He said that timely steps and inclusion of TIRs would have paved way for Afghanistan in getting access for its trucks to Wagha border and Indian goods would have reached to Kabul through Afghan trucks while Pakistan would have got trade access to Central Asian Republics (CARs) through Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
Sarhadi, who is also vice chairman of FPCCI standing committee on Customs Agents, further revealed that in this connection Afghanistan have sought time March 15, 2016 to complete homework and after the receiving of their recommendations, the Pakistani authorities were required to visit Afghanistan in last week of March for holding final round of talks on trade affairs. But, Pakistan is till awaiting recommendations from Afghanistan and the former is stressing on the resuming of negotiations.