Afghan President Ahraf Ghani seems to be becoming more anti-Pakistan by the day. His latest outburst was threatening to cut off Pakistan from Central Asia should Pakistan not allow Afghanistan to use the Wagah border to trade with India. Pakistan has responded by saying that Afghanistan is still allowed to use the Wagah border to send goods to India; under the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement it is only India which is not allowed to use Pakistan as a transit point in trading with Afghanistan. What prompted Ghani to launch this tirade was Pakistan’s decision to require Afghan nationals to carry valid identification to cross the border at Torkham. While the merits of that policy can be debated, Ghani comes off as hypocritical for his criticisms since Afghanistan has always accused Pakistan of not doing enough to control the movement of militants. The Afghan president wants it both ways, with Pakistan somehow managing to stop militants from crossing between the two countries while allowing Afghans to move freely. This, needless to say, is impossible. Ghani cannot seriously expect Pakistan to be used as a transit point for Indian goods going to Afghanistan since that would require Pakistan to negotiate a treaty with Narendra Modi, a hardliner who has shown little inclination to pursue diplomacy with Pakistan.
Afghanistan is already planning to give India access to Central Asia thanks to the Chahbahar port deal which sets up both rail and road access for India. Pakistan was deliberately excluded from that deal. For Afghanistan the main issue with Pakistan is what it considers our use of militant groups against them. It is undoubted that many leaders of the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network have been based in Pakistan with not much action taken against them – at least till Zarb-e-Azb was launched. But it is equally true that Mullah Fazlullah is based in Afghanistan and Ghani’s government seems to have no interest in apprehending him and his men. Afghanistan’s close relationship with India is based not only on a mutual loathing for Pakistan but also the pursuit of better economic ties. Being able to transit in Pakistan would greatly reduce transportation costs for both India and Afghanistan while giving Pakistan extra revenue in the form of transit fees. But such an agreement is impossible at a time when all three countries accuse each other of sponsoring terrorism on their soil. Perhaps, at a later date, if ties are improved, the matter can be raised again. https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/149975-Ghanis-route
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