Pakistan hampering trade with India: Afghanistan

[iam not greek]

Afghan minister Anwarul Haq Ahady said the move was hampering trade between India and his nation


Agra: Afghan commerce minister Anwarul Haq Ahady on Monday criticized Pakistan for not allowing Indian goods transit facilities through its territory, a move he said was hampering trade between Asia’s third largest economy and the landlocked and impoverished Afghanistan.
Ahady was speaking at a session on South Asia and regional connectivity organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) lobby group in Agra.
Referring to the South Asia Free Trade Area (Safta) pact that came into force in January 2006, Ahady said he was “quite unhappy” with Pakistan for restricting Indian goods from transiting through Pakistan, which he said was not in the spirit of the accord. His country’s “trade with India is hampered by it”, Ahady said.
Afghanistan joined the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, or Saarc, in 2007. The group includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, besides Afghanistan.
Besides not allowing transit under the Safta pact, Pakistan also does not permit the transit of Indian goods through its territory under another pact signed between neighbours Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2010. The Afghanistan-Pakistan Trade and Transit Agreement allows Afghan trucks to carry Afghan transit cargo to Pakistani ports and also the Indian border at Wagah. But it does not allow Indian exports loaded on the same trucks through Pakistan.
Ties between India and Pakistan have been hostile mainly over competing claims over Kashmir. The trigger for three of the four wars between India and Pakistan since 1947, Kashmir is administered by both countries in parts. Till recently, Pakistan was averse to normalizing ties with India—whether trade or cultural—till the Kashmir row was sorted out. But since 2011, Pakistan has taken steps to normalize trade, including moving from a large positive list of items that could not be traded between the neighbours to a smaller positive list.
Commerce minister Anand Sharma described regional economic integration as a necessity. “We have no choice—our countries have to work together. There has to be an enduring trust so that there are no setbacks to trade,” he said.

Pakistan hampering trade with India: Afghanistan - Livemint

 

[anilindia]

Normal Afgan people are friend of India and dont like Pakistan. Pakistan should not come in way of our firendship..

 

[Kaniska]

Normal Afgan people are friend of India and dont like Pakistan. Pakistan should not come in way of our firendship..

You are too generic to this complex situations....The same afgan people will unite with all these Islamic Fundamentalist to fight against India.....yes..you can say that there are some section of Afgan people who are benefited by India's associations with Afghanistan may be have positive views towards India but that should not be constructed as a statement of alliance against Pakistan....In the end of the day, they will just support Pakistan and its proxy people because they think they are all Muslim...That is the ground reality in Afganistan...India is just flirting with Afganistan situation because Afghanistan is an area where India does not have any thing to loose...

 

[iam not greek]

You are too generic to this complex situations....The same afgan people will unite with all these Islamic Fundamentalist to fight against India.....yes..you can say that there are some section of Afgan people who are benefited by India's associations with Afghanistan may be have positive views towards India but that should not be constructed as a statement of alliance against Pakistan....In the end of the day, they will just support Pakistan and its proxy people because they think they are all Muslim...That is the ground reality in Afganistan...India is just flirting with Afganistan situation because Afghanistan is an area where India does not have any thing to loose...

dude its not about the people, its about the Govt. Afghan Govt is Pro India and will favor India over Pakistan.

 

[Yeti]

You are too generic to this complex situations....The same afgan people will unite with all these Islamic Fundamentalist to fight against India.....yes..you can say that there are some section of Afgan people who are benefited by India's associations with Afghanistan may be have positive views towards India but that should not be constructed as a statement of alliance against Pakistan....In the end of the day, they will just support Pakistan and its proxy people because they think they are all Muslim...That is the ground reality in Afganistan...India is just flirting with Afganistan situation because Afghanistan is an area where India does not have any thing to loose...

Well not really it is far more complicated than that many local Afghani people want better relations with India as do the government there, we backed the Northen Alliance with Iran and Russia prior to 9/11 if you remember.

There are many ethnic groups in Afghanistan just because they are muslim does not mean they will back Pakistan automatically sure some Taliban do have to this day links with the ISI but many see ISI and Pakistan as the enemey now and that goes for alot of locals too. The situation is very complex to say the least.

I was watching a intresting docu on life in Afghanistan where the locals were listening to hindi songs and talking about how Indian products are way superior to the stuff they get from Pakistan and these were normal folk just your everyday type of people.

 

[oct605032048]

As a land locked country what can it do?

dude its not about the people, its about the Govt. Afghan Govt is Pro India and will favor India over Pakistan.

 

[Yeti]

We need to upgrade our relations with Iran and bypass Pakistan all together that is a good option for India and Afghanistan

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3820948.ece


India, Iran and Afghanistan will hold a strategic trilateral meet on Sunday in Tehran in which key issues, including regional security and economic situation and best utilisation of Chabahar port, a significant commercial venture, will be discussed.

The trilateral meeting, to be led by the Deputy Foreign Ministers or Foreign Secretaries of these three countries, will discuss the commercial venture, which is under consideration for some time now, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told reporters in New Delhi on Saturday.

The meeting, initiated by the Iranian side, will also look into the report by the Indian Ports Association (IPA) on various commercial activities which could be taken up through the port in the sanction-hit country.

“It (report) has a number of different possibilities and we are studying it... The idea is to take forward what we need to do with Chabahar. What is our common interest...,” Mr. Mathai said, while noting the significance of the port and related infrastructure as an alternative route to Afghanistan.

 

[MilSpec]

What else can you expect!!!

 

[Icewolf]

Afghan govt can only control Kabul, and that too with only the help of NATO.

As for whining, it's our borders, and the trade lines goes through OUR country. It's none of your business.

Find a more expensive way, and trade through Iran to waste billions, if you don't like it.

 

[Yeti]

Considering the state of Pakistans economy which I was just reading about on BBC there is a article today, it is in their benefit to expand trade ties with India and the majority of Pakistanis wish this also but there are some hawks that will not want this.

 

[Spring Onion]

And Afghanistan is hampering everybody's trade from this part of the world with CARs

whats so strange in such things? every one works for own interests and our business interests rests on keeping India out of our land route India has a growing economy so India should explore other ways to trade with anyone they want.

 

[Skull and Bones]

Why ain't we using the route through Iran? Then what's the use of developing Chabahar port?

 

[Yeti]

And Afghanistan is hampering everybody's trade from this part of the world with CARs

whats so strange in such things? every one works for own interests and our business interests rests on keeping India out of our land route India has a growing economy so India should explore other ways to trade with anyone they want.

But is it really in your benefit? in the economic sense? I very much doubt it

Why ain't we using the route through Iran? Then what's the use of developing Chabahar port?

It is cheaper and more easier to take our goods via Pakistan but if they play hardball we will use Iran of that there is on doubt.

That is why the 3 way meeting was held to discuss this very matter back in Aug 2012.

 

[oct605032048]

Pakistan and China is working together on the KKH. Once it's done Pakistan-China-CAR trade route will be wide open.

And Afghanistan is hampering everybody's trade from this part of the world with CARs

whats so strange in such things? every one works for own interests and our business interests rests on keeping India out of our land route India has a growing economy so India should explore other ways to trade with anyone they want.

 

[Spring Onion]

But is it really in your benefit? in the economic sense? I very much doubt it

Look even trade with India by some industrialists is harming the local market and specially common people.

Our exporters send flour and other items to Afghanistan even if we need these at local market leading to shortage in the local market resultantly the common folk here is forced to get these commodities at high rate adding to further inflation.

On the other hand allowing Indian goods through our land route means we are going to lose market there so why should we give benefit to India at expense of our trade