AfPak MoU on transit trade: Pak denies concessions to India

Rezaul H Laskar

Islamabad, May 7 (PTI) Pakistan Thursday rejected the
impression that it had granted "concessions" to India by
signing a pact with Afghanistan to conclude a new transit
trade agreement by the end of this year.

"I don't know who has given concessions," Foreign Office
spokesman Abdul Basit told a weekly news briefing in response
to a question about the memorandum of understanding signed
Wednesday between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Reports have said that once the new transit trade
agreement is concluded, it will allow India to use the route
between the Wagah land border and Pakistan's Khyber tribal
region for trade with Afghanistan.

However, Basit said the MoU only relates to negotiations
between Pakistan and Afghanistan on devising a new arrangement
to replace the existing transit trade agreement. The MoU
commits the two countries to concluding talks by the end of
this year and "all issues will be taken care of when the
negotiations begin," he said.

Pakistan's "engagement with India for a transit route to
Afghanistan is a separate issue" and will be discussed
bilaterally, Basit said.


US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wednesday said the
MoU commits Pakistan and Afghanistan "to achieving a trade
transit agreement by the end of the year, which we believe
will have great economic benefits for both peoples".

Clinton also said the agreement had been "under
discussion for 43 years without resolution". She described the
MoU as "an important milestone" in efforts by the two
countries to generate foreign investment, economic growth and
trade opportunities.

Though India is not mentioned in the MoU, reports said
it would be the main beneficiary of a transit trade agreement
between Pakistan and Afghanistan as New Delhi is one of
Kabul's major trade partners.

India and Afghanistan have for long been making efforts
to get Pakistan to open its land routes for transit trade
between the two countries. PTI RHL
DEP