Just as Pakistan announced it would revise terms of engagement with the US and Nato, it is now considering doing the same with eastern neighbour Afghanistan, in what appears to be a continued revamping of foreign policy.
The bone of contention this time is the previously hailed Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade agreement, which is allegedly being misused in the wake of Islamabad suspending Nato supplies through the country’s land route.
Pakistan’s blockade entered a third week on Saturday, the longest closure of the 10-year war.
Pakistani officials believe that the trade agreement is being used to bypass the suspension of supplies in the aftermath of the November 26 Nato attack on military check posts, one of the many steps taken by the government in protest.
Behind closed doors, an official of the foreign office told senators during a recent senate panel meeting that the government is now seriously considering reviewing conditions of the agreement, which allows landlocked Afghanistan to transport goods via Pakistan.
“Since the current terms were being violated, new terms of cooperation will be discussed after we complete our own internal exercise,” an official said. He added that reports had been received that the agreement was being “misused”.
The provision of Nato supplies through Pakistan has already caused massive financial damage to the country. According to official records, the Pakistani economy has suffered a loss of Rs55 billion in revenue as a result of missing records of whether 29,000 containers crossed the border or not after being loaded in Karachi. In addition to this crucial missing information, 19,000 Nato containers are also missing on the electronic record of their exit points in Pakistan.
The reported damage caused by the Nato supplies does not end here, however. Recently, Federal Minister for Communication Dr Arbab Alamgir told Senate that the national exchequer had suffered a loss of Rs40 billion in the form of road damages caused by overloaded NATO containers travelling through the Karachi-Chaman and Karachi-Torkham route.
While the Parliamentary Committee on National Security has been tasked by the government to make recommendations for new terms of engagement with the US over the ‘War on Terror’, another official revealed that under the existing terms, Pakistan received a paltry Rs410 worth of cargo handling charges per container by NATO. The real profits were in fact being made by a cartel of Afghan contractors according to the official, who refused to divulge the identities of those behind the alleged cartel.
According to international law, it appears that Pakistan may very well revise the terms of the trade agreement with impunity. When asked if it was possible for Pakistan to change the terms of its agreement with Afghanistan once the treaty was signed, Umer Farooq Chaudhry, a lawyer of international law, said “In view of national interest, every country can evaluate it. You can tell your Afghan counterparts that your new demand of goods is not a natural demand and we think the treaty is being violated”. He added that an arbitration form is always available when a disagreement arises at any stage in a bilateral treaty.
Meanwhile, one senior security official said, “Pakistan will reopen the border when public anger cools down and the route is protected”. He added, “Nato will have to apologise. They will have to provide solid security for the future”. (WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM AFP)
Published in The Express Tribune, December 11th, 2011.
COMMENTS (20)
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Pakistan has the best hand and it has played it in the worst way. It could make both Afghanistan,its supporters and India say uncle. The fault lies decidedly with the civilian leadership.
After all these years why is the ATT agreement still subject to misuse ?? No points for guessing the right answer.
@Maria: This is an outrageous comment considering the fact that it's been Pakistan who has created the continued dump that Afghanistan is in. Most problems Afghanistan is facing today is due to the political games Pakistan has been playing for 20 years. And to date they will do everything to prevent an improvement of the Afghan situation. The current blockade is just one example.
@antony:
Not to worry, the bravado is going to make it all better. You don’t seem to understand the fact that, Pakistan is the most important strategically placed country in the world, so why not test it?
Why stop digging when you are knee deep in crap? Suspend the agreement and sever ties not a bad thing for Pak.
Do it.
@mark Muslims are one. Our leaders aren't. We have started kicking them out. Bad news for you guys
Come on...
We all know the smuggling is done by Pakistanis in connivance with Pak Customs and has nothing to do with Afghanistan.
Any landlocked country has the right to access by sea. We can easily devise a electronic system to prevent cheating, why don't we?
Since when did Afghanistan move to become an eastern neighbor to Pakistan. Isn't Afghanistan located to the west of Pakistan?
@markh
Stop messing around with the Muslim world
Your inevitable poverty is not our problem
Nations need to leave the Muslim world alone
Since the 1940s this has been happening
@Asif: Weird. Slaves usually wouldn't be nearly as annoying as Pakistan. You just don't know what you are and it shows by having a nauseating amount of lines drawn separating even what you call the majority from one another. It's kinda funny how Islam is the only religion that claims the one true way and supposedly preaches brotherhood but at the same time there are different types of Muslims somehow. There's usually at least some form of name change. You just keep it the same and kill each other who gets the right to use it.
@Antony,
Imran Khan better cut all ties with the US, and put them at a minimum.
End of support for this horrific war in Afghanistan must be permanent.
No nation, not Afghanistan, or Pakistan needs American slaves.
Pakistan Customs were I guess not deligent
Pakistan needs to stop all support for the horrific war by the US on the Afghan people.
Otherwise, years from now, Pakistan will be known as one of the Muslim nations that supported this aggression against Afghanistan.
Civil and military leaders must know that there can be no return to this.
It must be over,.
If this is true that US is bypassing the closure, then it must be stopped.
There can be no negotiations for reopening supplies.
Otherwise there should be new generals and civilian leaders all together.
No one wants American slaves in power
We must evaluate the cost incurred by our cooperation with NATO. No reimbursement has ever been sought for transit facilities used by NATO/ISAF consignments. Coalition Support Fund does not include transit cost. This was a criminal oversight (or collusion) by those who concluded terms of cooperation with NATO in 2001-2.
How could say same with same with Afghanistan?
It is only with gangsters killers alliance in occupied Afghanistan...
Transit Trade agreement need not to being misused for US-Nato supplies...
I dont know where this bravado will lead when next june floods come knocking at the door when International (US aid) will be the flavour of the month.
Finally the ATT is receiving attention. The official refused to divulge the names of the persons of the Afghan cartel who are involved in the missing containers and revenue. PRs. 55 billion in 29,000 containers is a lot of money. Additionally, another 19,000 containers are also missing.
Pakistanis should stock up on essential consumer goods because if some drastic measures are taken to curb the ATT, the famous Jodia Bazar will go on strike and the Pakistani businessmen will start clamoring all over the electronic and print media, to make it rich.
What a country. Salams to Pakistan
We all know that the Afghanis are tricksters by nature who will cheat and scam at every opportunity. It comes as no surprise that they would abuse the terms of a trade treaty too. It is wise to revisit any treaty with Afghanistan which is nothing but a lackey of the Indians. Most of the criminality in the region comes from Afghanistan which is why Pakistan needs to stand tough and do what is in the nation's best interests.