Despite the fact that Afghanistan being a landlocked country is beholden to Pakistan for its trade with the outside world and despite that the transit trade agreement it has signed with Pakistan that gave it many a concession, it continues to be a difficult neighbour to those who have helped it.
In a gross disregard for the trade agreement, it stopped 200 Pakistani containers at Chaman border crossing on their way to Central Asian Republics, besides forcing back all those that had entered Afghanistan. This has been done, it seems, in response to the trucks (of Afghan transit trade) held at Karachi. The worrying aspect is that this irritant seems to be a calculated move; Pakistani trucks are loaded with perishable items worth billions of rupees, which if not transported to their destinations, would go waste. This act of hostility coupled with Karzai’s histrionics, have become the usual way of how Kabul responds to our generosity. Under the circumstances, Islamabad has to ask Kabul why it has done so. In case the transit trade is suspended altogether, it is Afghanistan, that will suffer greater losses. And so it is for its own economic security that it abides by the agreements it has signed with Pakistan.