Monitoring Desk: “Afghanistan knows its networking within Pakistani politicians, bureaucracy, media, and decision-makers is too strong. Pak-Afghan trade would neither halt for a long period nor be properly documented. Therefore, the Afghan regime has never been shy about bleeding Pakistan through terrorists or abusing Pakistan bluntly.”
This was observed by the writer of the article titled “Afghanistan’s alternative trade routes and a trade misunderstood” published on Sunday in The Express Tribune.
The writer further claimed that the Pak-Afghan transit trade route has been instrumental in all kinds of smuggling into Pakistan for ages, discouraging Pakistani industrialists from investing in several sectors, as cheaper imported items are always available in the local market through Pak-Afghan transit trade smuggling rackets. While expressing the possibility that Pak-Afghan transit trade will not be halted for long—because the smuggling economy is vast and alluring for many who have the power to influence decision-makers in Islamabad—the writer advised decision-makers to think about the country instead of personal gains. According to the writer, Pakistan and Afghanistan’s bilateral trade is one of the main sources of bleeding Pakistan economically and politically, as this passage has been used for injecting terrorists into Pakistan.
The writer suggests that decision-makers should learn from Iran and the Central Asian states bordering Afghanistan, which do not allow Afghans to work without a work visa. Obtaining a work visa in a Central Asian state is as difficult as in Europe because the employer must justify that he/she is hiring a foreigner only when the required skills are not available in the local market.
CLICK THIS LINK TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE.
