Afghanistan Puts Off Transit Trade Meeting With Pakistan

Kabul has unilaterally put off a meeting of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Coordination Authority (APTTCA), a high-level forum set up to deal with problems hindering smooth implementation of a revised transit treaty, Pakistani officials told Dawn.

The report has said that Pakistan's exports to Afghanistan dropped by a significant 27 percent over the past year.

Dawn reported that exports to Afghanistan had reached an all-time high of $2.4 billion in 2010-11. It remained above the $2 billion mark in the following two years - 2011-12 and 2012-13. Since then, exports have dwindled and was only $1.43 billion in 2015-16.

In the first two months (July-August) of the current financial year, exports were recorded at $213.47 million USD. This shows that the total exports to Afghanistan will be about $1 billionwhen the figures for 2017-18 are finalised, reported Dawn.

A source told Dawn on Tuesday that the Afghan commerce ministry had conveyed to Islamabad its decision to postpone the meeting through the Pakistan High Commission in Kabul. "We have received a formal letter in this regard," the source said.

However, the Afghan government has not yet commented.