Souring ties : Pak-Afghan trade deals stall on India
Pakistan objects to Indian goods crossing its territory
PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan and Afghanistan have shelved a raft of agreements that promised to more than triple cross-border trade, officials said, as economic ties seen as key to regional stability fall victim to rivalry and suspicion.
Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani struck the trade deals with Pakistan soon after taking office last year. The deals were supposed to be a step towards warmer relations and boosting Afghanistan-Pakistan trade from $1.6 billion now to $5 billion by 2017. But officials told Reuters that the agreements, which include reducing tariffs and granting each other preferential trade status, have stalled.
“There has been no progress or further meetings for months since those agreements were signed,” said Musafer Qoqandi, the Afghan commerce ministry’s spokesman.
The key bone of contention was whether Pakistan would allow trade from India to cross its territory. The setback first emerged in April, but neither side was willing to discuss it amid attempts to salvage the agreements and maintain the appearance of unity. But political relations deteriorated after a spate of Taliban attacks in Afghanistan last month and the impasse over trade spilled into the open.
As diplomats from the two countries swap blame, some are wondering how they can control militancy together if they cannot make progress on trade. “If Pakistan and Afghanistan aren’t able to agree on relatively simple trade initiatives that benefit both countries, how can they be expected to make progress in security co-operation?” asked Vaqar Ahmed, deputy executive director at Islamabad’s Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
Afghanistan’s Deputy Commerce Minister Muzamel Shinware told Reuters that it was ‘illogical and unfair’ not to include Indian trade crossing Pakistan into Afghanistan.
Under the terms of the agreements, Pakistan was to have been allowed to ship its goods to markets in Central Asia and beyond via Afghan territory. But the row over Indian goods has jeopardised the deals.
“If you put India on the table, then the whole thing stops,” said a Pakistani official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Pakistani Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan confirmed that progress was stalled and blamed Afghanistan for failing to deliver promised lower levies on Pakistani transit trade and to begin negotiations on a preferential trade agreement. Afghanistan, in turn, blamed Pakistan. A senior Afghan official, who asked not to be named, said that the progress on trade made since Ghani’s visit to Pakistan in November “could, frankly, have been made in two weeks if we were serious.”
In November, Pakistan promised faster clearance of Afghan cargo, greater access for Afghan traders to Pakistan’s railway system and to set up ‘parallel track’ Afghan customs at Karachi. Dastgir Khan says most of those steps have been implemented, although some officials privately concede that progress in recent months has stalled as relations chilled.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 18th, 2015.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have shelved a raft of agreements that promised to more than triple cross-border trade, officials said, as economic ties seen as key to regional stability fall victim to rivalry and suspicion.
Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani struck the trade deals with Pakistan soon after taking office last year. The deals were supposed to be a step towards warmer relations and boosting Afghanistan-Pakistan trade from $1.6 billion now to $5 billion by 2017. But officials told Reuters that the agreements, which include reducing tariffs and granting each other preferential trade status, have stalled.
“There has been no progress or further meetings for months since those agreements were signed,” said Musafer Qoqandi, the Afghan commerce ministry’s spokesman.
The key bone of contention was whether Pakistan would allow trade from India to cross its territory. The setback first emerged in April, but neither side was willing to discuss it amid attempts to salvage the agreements and maintain the appearance of unity. But political relations deteriorated after a spate of Taliban attacks in Afghanistan last month and the impasse over trade spilled into the open.
As diplomats from the two countries swap blame, some are wondering how they can control militancy together if they cannot make progress on trade. “If Pakistan and Afghanistan aren’t able to agree on relatively simple trade initiatives that benefit both countries, how can they be expected to make progress in security co-operation?” asked Vaqar Ahmed, deputy executive director at Islamabad’s Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
Afghanistan’s Deputy Commerce Minister Muzamel Shinware told Reuters that it was ‘illogical and unfair’ not to include Indian trade crossing Pakistan into Afghanistan.
Under the terms of the agreements, Pakistan was to have been allowed to ship its goods to markets in Central Asia and beyond via Afghan territory. But the row over Indian goods has jeopardised the deals.
“If you put India on the table, then the whole thing stops,” said a Pakistani official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Pakistani Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan confirmed that progress was stalled and blamed Afghanistan for failing to deliver promised lower levies on Pakistani transit trade and to begin negotiations on a preferential trade agreement. Afghanistan, in turn, blamed Pakistan. A senior Afghan official, who asked not to be named, said that the progress on trade made since Ghani’s visit to Pakistan in November “could, frankly, have been made in two weeks if we were serious.”
In November, Pakistan promised faster clearance of Afghan cargo, greater access for Afghan traders to Pakistan’s railway system and to set up ‘parallel track’ Afghan customs at Karachi. Dastgir Khan says most of those steps have been implemented, although some officials privately concede that progress in recent months has stalled as relations chilled.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 18th, 2015.