Pak set to open routes for Indo-Afghan trade

PESHAWAR At last US tactics of arm-twisting and blackmailing Pakistan succeeded in forcing Pakistani Government to open all land, sea and air routes for trade between Afghanistan and India. According to sources, the Government of Pakistan has started making security arrangements at those routes, which have been granted for two-way trade between India and Afghanistan through Pakistani territory. Under Afghan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement, Pakistan has allowed Afghanistan to use major ports, air and land routes including Peshawar International Airport, Azakhel Dry Port, Ghulam Khan terminal besides important other ports and land routes in Balochistan. The Pakistani authorities have also allowed Afghanistan to use Railways network in Peshawar, Karachi and Quetta including Chaman Rail Terminal for trade. The Afghan truckers have also been allowed to pass through Ghulam Khan Check Post terminal along the Iranian border. The Afghan trucks will be further facilitated up to Wahgah border for entry into Afghanistan. Though the Government has assured strict checking of the Afghan drivers for security, no truck will be searched which is feared to cause smuggling of unwanted goods. Some analysts have also expressed their fear that the national security would be at risk due to the newly signed APTTA. Keeping in view the Afghan refusal to have drivers carrying passports and valid visas to enter Pakistan, quantitative restrictions on smuggling-prone items, etc, the security risks to the country would be all time high. The Pakistani trade circles also fear that allowing Afghan trucks to move freely within Pakistan and pick up their cargo from Karachi will affect badly the countrys economy as well as lead to unprecedented increase in smuggling activities.