ISLAMABAD, Feb 19: Pakistan has decided to relax Afghanistan Transit Trade (ATT) through significant reduction in the negative list of items to counter emerging India-Iran trade cooperation towards Afghanistan.

Official sources told Dawn that a comprehensive exercise has been completed by the ministry of commerce to reduce the list of negative items that Afghanistan cannot import through land route via Pakistan and develop a flexible trade relationship with Kabul.

These sources said the forthcoming meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet would formally approve the relaxations in ATT and some other flexible trading arrangements with Kabul on “give and take basis”.

Afghanistan has historically been relying on imports through Pakistan under an Afghanistan Transit Trade Agreement. Pakistan had, however, restricted around 24 items to pass through its territory, which it believed were of no use in Afghanistan and were smuggled back into Pakistan.

Afghanistan has been asking Pakistan since the fall of Taliban government about a year back on almost every forum and through the exchanges of ministerial delegations that the negative list should be done away with.

The Afghans contend that many items that were of no use in Afghanistan during the Taliban regime have now become daily use items and should not be restricted by Pakistan. Some of these items include razors, shaving material, cosmetics and electronics like televisions, CDs and VCRs, etc.

Pakistan had promised with the Hamid Karzai administration last year to review the Afghanistan Transit Trade arrangements in a way that it was beneficial to Kabul but did not harm the Pakistani industry.

Iran and India agreed last month to jointly enhance trade cooperation with Kabul through development of communication links from India to Kabul and onwards to central Asia via Iran.

When contacted, Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan said that Pakistan had promised with the Afghan authorities to review the ATT and agreed that a final decision would be taken by the ECC.

He refused to divulge the details but confirmed the “policy (with Afghanistan) is under review particularly in the light of recent India-Iran developments.” He said, “Pakistan would be more flexible in trade with Afghanistan.”

To a question about the export of around 15,000 tons fertilizer to Afghanistan, the minister said that ECC had deferred the issue recently to see whether Kabul really needed that product and at the same time examine local requirements so that there was no problem for the local agriculture sector.

To another question whether Pakistan would also accept Kabul’s demand to allow Indian products to pass through its territory, the minister replied in negative and said India would have to talk to Pakistan on that subject.