An Accord has been signed between Pakistan and Afghanistan allowing transit trade facility to Kabul for trade with India through our territory, all the way from Torkhum to Wagah. In the high-profile signing ceremony, Prime Minister Gilani was also present and so were two top US officials, Secretary of State Mrs Hillary Clinton and Special Representative Richard Holbrooke. Somehow, within 48 hours of the ceremony, Pakistan took a somersault with no less a person than the Prime Minister himself saying that 'the trade agreement' has not quite been signed yet. The PM now said approval of the federal cabinet was required as was taking the Parliament into confidence. This transit trade 'Accord' (or not) benefits India without it being a party in any way and, quite intriguingly, US is there with out being there too. We hear US is actually the silent guarantor and the real force behind it, as was echoed in the Punjab Assembly with a number of members blowing hot and cold, demanding discussion on the Accord (or not) which, they said, was (probably) detrimental to our national interests. In response to the fiery speeches in Punjab Assembly, the provincial Finance Minister Tanveer Ashraf Kaira informed the House that the Accord is yet to materialise and what was, in fact, signed at the much-hyped ceremony by the ministers of two countries, in the presence of Prime Minister of Pakistan and US Secretary of State plus her official brief-carrier, was, believe it or not, just a 'Record Note'. Really? Afghanistan has supposedly found a trade route to India, India is also a main beneficiary (or not), our national security and sovereignty have been (apparently) put at stake and it happened in the presence of a PM, a Secretary of State &her etcetera with all the press and cameras but our officials think it was nothing more than a...Record Note? -SHAAN ALI ZAIDI, Lahore, July 23.