Pakistan, Afghanistan resume transit treaty negotiations

Pakistan and Afghanistan have resumed the transit treaty negotiations, which collapsed in 2015 after Kabul insisted on including India in the talks, according to a media report. Pakistan's exports to Afghanistan, which was at its peak at USD 2.4 billion in 2010-11, continued to fall and reached USD 1.3 billion in 2018-19 after the talks between the two sides broke down.

A Technical Working Group (TWG) of Afghan officials on Friday met Adviser to Pakistan Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood and exchanged their concerns and proposals on the issue, the Dawn reported. The move came after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister Imran Khan last month agreed to deepen the trade ties between the two countries.

Dawood is likely to visit Kabul soon to continue the talks and understand the issues hampering trade relations between the two neighbors, the report said. The talks, which calls for greater facilitation in the movement of goods amongst the two countries, collapsed in September 2015 after Kabul insisted on including India in transit treaty negotiations and the trilateral trade agreement involving Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.

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