ISLAMABAD, Oct 14: Pakistan is mulling over new transit trade arrangements with Afghanistan as the bilateral trade has started improving during the last few months.

“We are looking into various aspects of the transit trade so as to have a fresh look at it,” Commerce Minister Abdul Razak Dawood told reporters here on Monday.

He was asked to comment that why their was no progress on Afghan Transit Trade for quite sometime despite exchange of various delegations. “Some technicalities are currently under study,” he said.

The minister, who parried all questions with regard to relinquishing his cabinet post; whether he would continue his job in the new government or whether he would be able to sign a free trade agreement with Sri Lanka, said he expects to travel once again to Colombo tentatively around 22nd of this month.

He said that Pakistan has received a list of no-duty items from Sri Lanka and vice versa last week and both sides were studying each others lists.

“We have even replied to one of their queries and we are expecting their replies in a day or two,” said the minister and added that differences over the lists have shrunk. An otherwise optimistic minister was not that certain whether the FTA could be formally signed by the two countries this month.

Mr. Dawood said that he could not visit Afghanistan because of his extensive travels to Morocco, Sri Lanka, the US and Thailand but a trade delegation led by the EPB chairman Tariq Ikram spent five days in Kabul.

The report submitted by Tariq Ikram, he said, was fairly positive, and since then bilateral trade has improved a lot. To another question, the minister said it had not been decided as yet that in which form Kabul would receive the remaining part of the $100 million assistance Pakistan had committed during the visit of President Hamid Karzai to Islamabad earlier this year. Pakistan has so far disbursed $18 million to Afghanistan.

To a question, Mr Dawood said the government had allowed the private sector to export Urea, and a big quantity had already gone into Afghanistan.

He, however, clarified that it was not true that Pakistan had refused Urea export to Kabul but further export could have created problems for Afghanistan.

To another question, he did not admit that he had a one-on-one meeting with Indian minister for trade and procurement Mr Parshad last week in Bangkok.