Chamber to move court against transit trade

Pact not acceptable to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa traders.

ISLAMABAD: The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has decided to challenge in court the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) signed in Kabul on Thursday.

SCCI President Usman Bashir Bilour told The Express Tribune the agreement is not acceptable to the traders and industrialists of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa at any cost.

Traders and industrialists of the province had been opposing the pact since Islamabad and Kabul signed an initial agreement in July this year.

The agreement allows Afghan trucks to carry export goods destined for India to the Pak-India border at Wagha, while in return Pakistani trucks will be allowed to go through Afghanistan to the Central Asian Republics and Iran.

Bilour rejected the claim that the deal was signed in the interest of Pakistan. “Why did it take months to finalise the agreement,” he questioned, saying it should have been signed much before the strategic dialogue between Pakistan and the US on October 21-22.

In his opinion, the agreement is a win-win situation for India and Afghanistan at the cost of Pakistan. “We consider the accord against the interest of Pakistan,” he said, adding the benefits will only go to India. Bilour also claimed that the treaty is against Pakistan’s national security.

President of All Pakistan Commercial Exporters Association, Atif Rashid Khawaja was of the view that the agreement was signed to facilitate India to market its products in Pakistan. “You will soon see smuggled goods of India in our markets.”

Pakistan will suffer huge financial losses when Afghanistan-bound Indian goods are smuggled into Pakistan, he added.

“The claim that the agreement is meant for Afghanistan to export its commodities to India is a joke,” he said, questioning the potential of Afghanistan to export goods to India.

Echoing the remarks made by Bilour, he believed the treaty would have a negative impact on Pakistan’s already weak economy.

He said while Pakistan may be able to use Afghan territory for exports to Central Asia, who could guarantee that Afghan trucks will not bring Indian goods on their way back to Afghanistan.

Under the agreement, Pakistani customs officials are not authorised to examine Afghan trucks while traveling to or from Wagha border, he claimed.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31^st, 2010.