Pakistan, India to set up trade post at Attari-Wagha border

Pakistan and India decide to establish a new checkpost for transportation of passengers and goods.

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan and India have decided to establish a new checkpost on the Attari-Wagha border for transportation of passengers and goods.

A seven-member delegation from Islamabad, headed by Ministry of Interior Joint Secretary Shabbir Ahmad, will leave for Attari next week to discuss provision of infrastructure required for the project.

An eight-member delegation, headed by the Home Affairs Ministry of India senior joint secretary, will share information with Pakistani officials about establishment of an integrated checkpost by India on no man’s land, near the Wagha border, to facilitate the flow of trade, worth $50 million per year.

The officials will also discuss the construction of a connecting road within 150 yards up to the zero line, construction of the new gate at Wagha and removal of non-tariff barriers in order to facilitate Pakistani businessmen wishing to export goods to India.

Ahmad told The Express Tribune that representatives from both countries will discuss the modalities to abandon the present gate for passenger and trade movement, the present system of movement of trucks on the border and reinforcements for the new checkpost. According to officials, the checkpost will be operational in April.

Observers believe that the establishment of the new checkpost is a major initiative by India to boost export of goods permitted by the Transit Trade Agreement 2009 between Pakistan and Afghanistan. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Pakistan and Afghanistan in US has finally provided India the Wagha-Khyber corridor for trade with Kabul.

India is expected to spend up to Rs2 billion on the checkpost. Statistics show that India exported goods worth Rs15 billion to Pakistan in the last two years while Pakistan’s exports to India have been negligible due to non-tariff barriers.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2011.