New rail, road links between Pakistan, Afghanistan in Offing
Pakistan Times Wire Service

ISLAMABAD: The bilateral trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan will touch US $ one billion mark this year and will be further enhanced by opening new rail and road links, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Thursday.

He was speaking at a ceremony to hand over first batch of 35 brand-new Hino-Pak buses and 20,000 school bags to Afghanistan's Minister for Public Works, Sohrab Ali Safri here at Pakistan Sports Complex.

"Pakistan and Afghanistan have already forged a model relationship and we will further contribute in the reconstruction of our neighbouring country as we strongly believe that a stable and progressing Afghanistan is in our interest," he said.

Pakistan had pledged to donate 100 buses, besides 300,000 school bags to Afghanistan. The remaining 65 buses and school bags will be given away by September. These donations will be in addition to 200 trucks presented to Afghanistan last year.

"Our donations will certainly ease the problem of transportation in Afghanistan to a great extent and will provide relief to commuters," said the Prime Minister who also got aboard a bus alongwith the Afghan Minister and other dignitaries.

"The school bags are symbolic of efforts to promote education in that country, which is necessary for development and reconstruction of our neighbour," he remarked.

He said that the two countries enjoyed deep historical, cultural and ethnic relations and have a long border. Pakistan is also giving refuge to three million Afghans, he added.

"Pakistan was among the first countries, as part of a global effort, to provide aid to its neighbour in its hour of need", the prime minister said. "Though, we are not an aid-giving country, the President of Pakistan pledged US $ 100 million for the reconstruction of Afghanistan with projects worth US $ 44 million already executed from this amount", he said.

Shaukat said about 50,000 Pakistani personnel were engaged in development projects in Afghanistan and expressed confidence that Pakistani entrepreneurs would further contribute towards investment in that country. "Given continued improvement in security and stability in the region, we expect this part of the globe to become hub of economic activities in the near future," the prime minister said.

He said the governments of the two countries had already concluded agreements in the areas of information, broadcasting, culture, and tourism including plying of bus services en routes Peshawar-Torkham-Jalalabad and Kandhar-Quetta during the recent visit of President Hamid Karzai. Construction of Torkham-Jalalabad Road by Frontier Works Organization will further boost bilateral trade and provide a trade transit for Central Asian Republics, benefiting both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"We are also actively considering Turkemanistan-Afghanistan- Pakistan gas pipeline as one of the options to support increased level of trade and passenger traffic," he said. Besides, he said, Chaman-Spinboldak rail project would also be completed by December next year while there were also plans to raise the number of border points between the two countries to 10 from current four.

The Afghanistan Minister for Public Works, Sohrab Ali Safri, said that Pakistan was the gateway for Afghanistan and likewise his country was the highway for Pakistan to Central Asian Republics.

He said Pak-Afghan trade should be increased further even from the mark of one billion dollar. "We are grateful to Pakistan for contributing generously towards reconstruction of Afghanistan".

"We have close relations with Pakistan", he said. "Nearly 50,000 Pakistanis are working in different projects in Afghanistan while there were a million-plus Afghan refugees still living in Pakistan".●