SCCI opposes India-Afghan trade via Wagah border

Businessmen opposed a proposal to allow Afghanistan to import goods from India

PESHAWAR: Businessmen of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday opposed a proposal to allow Afghanistan to import goods from India via the Wagah-Attari border, terming any such agreement contrary to the Pakistan-Afghanistan Transit Trade Agreement and against interests of local industries who could face an uncompetitive environment for their products in the Afghan market.

“The mutual ATTA was a bilateral and not a trilateral as per the WTO rules, so the proposal is not workable or unfeasible,” asserted Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) Acting President Shahid Hussain. He was addressing a meeting on the proposed amendments in the ATTA at the Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI) on Wednesday.

Hussain said that if Afghanistan was allowed to import goods from India via Wagah, then Pakistani products will be able to compete in the market and will ultimately damage local industries. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2020.