LAHORE - The former central Chairman of Pakistan Hardware Association and former LCCI Executive Committee Member Sardar Usman Ghani has taken a strong exception to the decision to allow export of Afghan goods to India through Wagha border as it would facilitate Indian coal mine operators to dispatch coal from mineral-rich Afghanistan at affordable rates to India. In a statement issued here Thursday, Sardar Usman Ghani said that it was high time that the government should review its decision as it would hit hard the national interests of the country. He said Indians either directly or through proxy have been awarded 60 percent of the coal mine concessions in Afghanistan. Dispatching the coal extracted from Afghanistan through Wagha Border to India is the only commercially viable proposition for the Indian coal mine owners, he said. If Pakistan does not permit export of Afghan goods through the Wagha Border it would not be possible for the Indians to extract the minimum quantity of coal from the mines that is necessary to hold on to the concession and pay minimum royalty to the Afghan government, said Ghani. They would eventually lose their mining rights within a year or two, he added. The LCCI former Executive Committee member said that Afghani coal has very high heating value with sulphur content of less than one percent. Currently, Pakistan is importing 100,000 tons of coal from Afghanistan, most of which is consumed by the local cement industry. He said that the quality of Afghan coal is at par with the best qualities available in Australia or other developed economies. Pakistan is partly fulfilling its coal needs from Afghanistan due to limited supplies. He said that it is a fact that Afghanistan is rich in mineral resources. Several countries are vying for obtaining mining right for extraction of huge deposits of copper, iron ore and coal. If Wagha border is opened for Afghan exports, India would send copper and iron ore through this route, officials said. He regretted that Pakistan succumbed to the American pressure that they exerted to befit the Indians. He said the government of Pakistan has revealed that legally binding agreement in this regard has not been signed or concluded. If so, he said, the economic planners should revisit its clauses and omit the concessions that hurt the business interests of Pakistan.