Transit politics

A curious little storm made its way through Pakistan recently without much notice in India. It was about an alleged decision by Islamabad to let India move goods to Afghanistan through its territory.

Delhi has long been interested in transit trade through Pakistan, which allows a few Afghan items to come through the Wagah border but does not let India export in the other direction. In Pakistan there has been significant opposition to such a move — especially from the Army.

When the Obama administration got Presidents Asif Zardari and Hamid Karzai to consider a regional transit trade arrangement with India and the Central Asian states, there was a political furore in Pakistan.

It was surprising then to see reports quoting Pak commerce minister Makhdoom Fahim Amin as saying that Islamabad had agreed, in its talks with Kabul, to offer India transit trade facility. There was a quick denial by Islamabad which said no arrangement on transit trade with India could be “contemplated until the composite dialogue starts”.

So was all the talk of transit trade just a case of misreporting? Not so fast. As the controversy over transit died down in Pakistan, external affairs minister S.M. Krishna was quoted as saying that he was surprised by Pakistan’s interest in ‘working together with India’ in Afghanistan!

That sentiment seemed completely out of step with the massive Pakistani campaign in the US and the West against Indian presence in Afghanistan. When it comes to India-Pakistan dialogue, nothing is what it seems.

... contd.