Afghan goods export to India through Wagah.

Pakistani entrepreneurs have expressed their resentment on the proposal to allow export of Afghan goods to India through Wagah border as it would facilitate Indian coal mine operators to dispatch coal from mineral rich Afghanistan at affordable rates to India, an official said on Thursday.

“Pakistani planners still think that Afghanistan would be exporting fruits and gems to India through Wagah border,” said Sardar Usman Ghani, who has coal mining concession in Afghanistan.

He said Indians either directly or through proxy have been awarded 60 percent of the coal mine concessions in Afghanistan.

Dispatching the coal extracted from Afghanistan through Wagah Border to India is the only commercially viable proposition for the Indian coal mine owners, he said.

If Pakistan does not permit export of Afghan goods through the Wagah Border it would not be possible for the Indians to extract the minimum quantity of coal from the mines that is necessary to hold on to the concession and pay minimum royalty to the Afghan government, said Ghani.

“They would eventually lose their mining rights within a year or two,” he said.

According to American experts, Afghanistan has proven coal reserves of $3 trillion, The News has learnt. Its coal has very high heating value with sulphur content of less than one percent.

Currently, Pakistan is importing 100,000 tons of coal from Afghanistan, most of which is consumed by the local cement industry.

The industry circles confirm that the quality of Afghan coal is at par with the best qualities available in Australia or other developed economies.

They said they are partly fulfilling their coal needs from Afghanistan due to limited supplies. The Afghan government has restricted export of the Pakistani coal miner to 100,000 tons only, the industry people said.

Most of the coal discoveries in Afghanistan are in and around Mazaar Shariff that is a stronghold of Northern Alliance, they said.

They said that the Northern Alliance is fully tilted towards India and has awarded most of the concessions to them.

A study by The News also revealed that Afghanistan is rich in mineral resources. Several countries are vying for obtaining mining right for extraction of huge deposits of copper, iron ore and coal, it revealed.

China has obtained some sizeable concessions in copper. India has more mining rights for coal than any other country, while there is a competition for obtaining mining rights of iron ore between China and India, according to the study.

If Wagah border is opened for Afghan exports, India would send copper and iron ore through this route, officials said.

Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) former president Mian Anjum Nisar regretted that Pakistan succumbed to the American pressure that they exerted to befit the Indians.

He said the government of Pakistan has revealed that legally binding agreement in this regard has not been signed or concluded. If so, he said, the economic planners should revisit its clauses and omit the concessions that hurt the business interests of Pakistan.

Source : thenews.com.pk