Joint prosperity

Fulfilling the long-standing promise of regional peace requires the cooperation of all major countries in the Central Asian and South Asian regions. Building strong economic links between the neighbouring countries of Pakistan and Afghanistan will be integral to diffusing tensions and sharing the promise of development amongst the populations of both countries. This is the only real mechanism available to building solidarity and goodwill between the two countries which have rarely seen eye to eye in recent years despite both of them being embroiled in wars against militants on their borders. In such a situation, the goodwill shared in talks between Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Afghan Minister Akleel Hakimi in the meeting of the 10th Joint Economic Commission has the potential to go a long way. With the two countries in negotiations to sign a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), the quarterly meetings of the JEC are pushing the agenda of regional cooperation forward one step at a time. Major agreements include expanding the CPEC to Afghanistan by building a road link between Gwadar, Khuzdar and Herat, and an agreement to import 2,000MW of electricity from Turkmenistan.
With respect to the second of these agreements, Afghanistan has shown great goodwill by refusing to charge a transit fee for electricity that Pakistan imports from Central Asian states via the CASA-1000 project and agreeing to share 150MW of electricity with Pakistan from Afghanistan’s share. This is slowly pushing the shared vision agreed between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani forward. The aims of the two countries are clear. Landlocked Afghanistan wants access to Pakistan’s warm waters and the broader South Asian region, while Pakistan is interesting in building direct links with Central Asian states to increase the volume of economic activity with them. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has made the bold proposal of easing visa requirements for businessmen traveling between the two countries. This has the potential of being part of the solution to the long-term problem of goods smuggling via the porous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The countries also set an ambitious target of increasing their trade volume from around $2 billion to $5 billion by the end of 2017. If the target is met, the two countries will be able to firmly establish their need for peace and stability in each other. Logically, an unstable Pakistan would not be in Afghanistan’s interest if over 1,000MW of its electricity are coming from across the border, nor would an unstable Pakistan suit Afghanistan if the latter’s goods are passing through our country. With a number of rail and road links also planned, co-dependence between the two neighbours could become a reality in the short-term future. This can only bode well for regional prosperity.