India should utilise Afghan, Pak transit trade: CII

AMRITSAR: The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) has expressed the hope that the US initiated talks on Afghanistan and Pakistan transit trade could give new optimism to Indian businessmen.
Chairman CII zonal council Suneet Kochhar told TOI on Saturday that according to the agreement Pakistan would facilitate Afghan exports to India through Wagah.Afghan trucks will be allowed access on designated routes up to Wagah. Afghan cargo would be off loaded onto Indian trucks at Wagah/Attari but the trucks on return will not carry Indian exports. In return, Afghanistan would also provide land transit facility to Pakistan to export its goods to central Asian countries. However, he said the elaborate details of the agreement were yet to be received.
Presently the main source of revenue at Attari check post is from the import of dry and fresh fruits from Afghanistan.
Kochhar said that India and Pakistan together account for roughly 80% of the GDP of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries. “With this land trade agreement, we can also envisage a south Asian regional train service connecting Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, which would be a milestone in the growth of these South Asian economies,” he said.
However, he added that India being a rising economy would have to take the lead role to accomplish it. He said that India needs to create pressure on Pakistan to accede to the demand of Afghanistan by allowing access to India to use Pakistan land route for its goods to be transported to Afghanistan.
“This will not only increase the trade ties between India and Afghanistan but also the supply of relief material to the war ravaged country,” he said.