Both KP chamber of commerce and Karachi chamber of commerce have expressed concerns over the signing of APTTA which now gives India excess through water and air routes directly and through land indirectly.
KARACHI: Traders and businessmen have expressed their dismay over signing of the Pakistan-Afghanistan accord on transit trade, saying that the APTTA is a copy of old Pak-Afghan Transit Trade and will not be giving any specific benefit to industry of Pakistan.
They said, it apparently seems that there is no benefit for Pakistan but through this accord quantum of smuggling and involvement of unscrupulous elements would multiply, damaging the legal import and manufacturing sector.
Abdul Majid Haji Muhammad, president Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) said that this is strange that the declaration of accord states that Pakistan would allow Afghanistan a thoroughfare from Wagah to India and in return Pakistan would also be allowed thoroughfare from Afghanistan to Central Asian Republics which is absolutely not the case, whereas, Pakistan is already doing trade with Central Asian Republics and they charge 10 percent service charges.
He said that it is natural that in the absence of good bilateral relations with India, we are all suspicious about the trade. He opined that Afghanistan-India may do trade under international law through sea via Karachi.
this gonna be one of the worst decisions PPP govt has made
will hurt local economy, also indirect access granted to india to use Pakistan's land for their trade, which is more than trade really, watch out for more terrorism inside Pakistan.
what else you can expect from such a sold out govt, and they seemed to be in hurry, without discussing this in parliament, and without consulting other parties, even almost everybody had shown their concerns on this issue, they decided to sign the agreement to please their US maters
I wonder if the agreement can be challenged in the court or no???
I am of the view that unless we get what we want from Afghanistan, we shouldn't be giving them any trade route or any facility what so ever, Afghans can have their transit trade through Iran if they are dying without it...
AS far as Pakistan is concerned, Zardari led govt has shown two different approaches
1) They announce/decide something good and then never implement it
2) they implement something which hits the strategic interests of Pakistan and then either take it back by immense public pressure or pressure from some other institute..
and if anyone talks about it, it is conspiracy against democracy...
But I have been thinking that would the trucks used for this purpose will be blown up by taliban the same way as the NATO trucks have been blown in past ?
One such incident and no one will insure them and then I don't think many companies would be willing to risk their good without insurance.
I feel that even if this trade starts it won't last for long.
The funniest part is that Afghanistan would send goods to India through Wahga Border ( Lahore) i wonder what Afghanistan produce to an extent which it can export???
Both Afhganies and Indians cannot be trusted, we have given them rights to have a walk in almost all the Pakistan... only a PPP govt can do such a blunder...
yup they can't be trusted. our stupid govt has given them easy access to our land. the army is quite on this and they should have been the 1st one to protest.
we already have tons of afghanis in Pakistan. Govt should be working on getting rid of them but it seems like the other way round.
i've been watching coverage of this, and I fail to understand why this is bad.
surely we would want the trade between india and afghanistan to happen through Pakistan? Isnt that the point of say wanting the gas pipeline between iran and india to go through Pakistan (as opposed to undersea?). you get royalties, and you create jobs.
as far as smuggling goes, is that an argument then against all international trade whatsoever?
as for those saying its a security risk.. what nonsense. there is more than enough violence right, the border between afghanistan and pakistan is virtually porous, a trade agreement formalizing and regulating things, would be a circuitous route to take for someone wanting to smuggle terrorists in.
the traders objections that no specific markets were opened up for Pakistan is the only one I understand and agree with.
According to International Law, Land Locked countries must be given access to roads by neighborly countries.
In return Pakistan also get access to CAR’s.
I don’t know if India get the access with the pact or not, but if India want direct access to Afghanistan - Pakistan should in return ask for road/rail/air trade access to Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh.
Already our textiles/Food items are available in CAR’s which are off course smuggled, but by opening direct roads - it’s a new markets for Pakistan.
Now instead of usual bashing can we look at the positives of opening road access to CAR’s & beyond?
One thing i love after the pact is sign, that local Pakistani population hate Afghanistan as whole (source: Phone calls from Public in Live shows on tv) - this will serve as warning for all the goat-lovers-mullahs that .. Local population has nothing to do with wet dreams of world domination by the hands of gay-taliban’s.
^ So all of afghanistan is basically ‘goat lover’ country? yar kabhi kuch soch kar bol liya kar, seriously… the ppl calling in and opposing this treaty werent complaining about the taliban or politics, this will hurt their business.
Coming back to the topic, stupid move by the PPP, yet again. I wonder what kind of retards are running the show.
Watch the Indian goods come back to Pakistan right after the containers land in Afghanistan Yes sir, been there seen that before!
i've been watching coverage of this, and I fail to understand why this is bad.
surely we would want the trade between india and afghanistan to happen through Pakistan? Isnt that the point of say wanting the gas pipeline between iran and india to go through Pakistan (as opposed to undersea?). you get royalties, and you create jobs.
the traders objections that no specific markets were opened up for Pakistan is the only one I understand and agree with.
I agree Rav..if anything allowing the trade will lead to creating transit income for Pakistan and an economic reason for India and Afghanistan to keep Pakistan happy.
Yes the agreement should have had provisions opening up markets for pakistani traders and perhaps provisions to prevent misuse
yeap.. i had the leverage bit in mind but forgot to mention it.
the coverage looked like general 'amreeka ki sazish hai' reaction because hillary clinton was present at the signing.
i havent read the agreement, but I dont know if India is specifically mentioned... and therefore there is still room for Pakistan to negotiate passage with India to the East and with Afghanistan to the west.
What I understood from news reports was that the access is given to Afghanistan for its exports to India, but not Indian exports to Afghanistan. And in return Pakistan gets access to Central Asian states.
Some people just like to make mountains out of molehills. Just because they don’t like the government, doesn’t mean they start acting like … ok, I stop here.
Regarding Indian exports to Afghanistan, the ministry clarified that Indian exports to Afghanistan are being transitted through Karachi Sea Port since 1965. No Indian exports to Afghanistan will be allowed through Wagah.
Afghan trucks would use designated routes and remain only on Pakistani side of the Wagah border to unload their export cargo for India.
Empty Indian trucks will be allowed to cross Wagah border and come on Pakistani side where Afghan cargo will be transferred to Indian trucks inside Pakistani territory, the press release added. Empty Afghan trucks on return from Wagah can carry only Pakistani exports to Afghanistan on designated routes.
I think this would have disastrous consequence for Pakistan on so many fronts. For one thing, Afghanistan has no industries and nothing to export. Two, Pakistan would become open bazaar for all kind of smuggle goods which were mostly confined to tribal areas until now. Also not to mentions the security implications for Pakistan given Indian present in Afghanistan drugs and gun smuggling across the country. I see nothing positive in this agreement. It would almost be same as what Zia did with Afghan refugees...instead of keeping them in refugee camps, like Iran, he let them lose and we are still paying for it.
I think this would have disastrous consequence for Pakistan on so many fronts. For one thing, Afghanistan has no industries and nothing to export. Two, Pakistan would become open bazaar for all kind of smuggle goods which were mostly confined to tribal areas until now. Also not to mentions the security implications for Pakistan given Indian present in Afghanistan drugs and gun smuggling across the country. I see nothing positive in this agreement. It would almost be same as what Zia did with Afghan refugees...instead of keeping them in refugee camps, like Iran, he let them lose and we are still paying for it.
Pakistani government now says that the agreement has not been finalized. I think the agreement will be disastrous for Pakistani economy.
The Pak-Afghan pact was signed between Pakistan and Afghanistan under pressure from the USA on July 18. Under this pact, Pakistan will provide transit trade between Afghanistan and India through its air space.
Pakistan had denied its land route to India but it agreed to provide air space which may benefit the latter but will cause damage to Pakistan’s security as well as its economy.
India has been successful in attaining Pakistani air space for trade with Afghanistan by coaxing the US to put pressure on Pakistan.
Both India and Afghanistan stand to gain while Pakistan is bound to be at a loss in more ways than one.
The government seems to have taken an important decision overnight by approving and signing the deal without consulting the parliament, leave alone the nation. Is this how foreign policy decisions are taken by a democratic government?
What is the difference between a dictator and a democratic government then?
Is there any need for India to negotiate further when it has acquired what it wanted? It never holds discussions over India-held Kashmir which it claims to be its internal issue.
It has been said that Afghanistan would facilitate Pakistan a transit trade route to Central Asian states. Did Pakistan really need a transit route to these countries via Afghanistan when we have China on our north which can easily give us access?
Last but not the least the media stated that Pakistan denies land access to India, but conveniently evaded the news that Pakistan agrees to provide air space to India.
Yes sir, been there seen that before!