Pakistan has considered the safest and cheapest route to resupply NATO troops
Pakistani authorities are considering North Atlantic Treaty Organization – NATO’s offer to use Afghan supplies through Gwadar Port.
According to Pakistan authorities, the US-led NATO military coalition in Afghanistan has offered to import vital supplies vital supplies by the southwestern port of Gwadar, contacting it a lot shorter and economically viable route into landlocked Afghanistan.
Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Hasil Bizenjo, told media that the NATO representatives proposed the idea at a recent meeting he convened with local and international business leaders in capital Islamabad.
Mr. Bizenjo said Nato people told us it would be extremely convenient for them in terms of quick transportation of supplies from Gwadar directly to Kandahar. They are very interested and we are working on it.
The port– gateway to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is now connected to the Chaman border crossing with Kandahar through a newly constructed highway, enabling truck convoys to reach Afghanistan in less than 24 hours.
He further said companies dealing in Afghan transit trade also want their cargo to be shipped completely through Gwadar. “Another meeting with Pakistani business and Nato representatives and Afghan transit trade dealers has also been scheduled to further the discussions.
NATO supplies are shipped through the Karachi Port currently, where they then are placed on trucks and transported on a week-long journey to neighbouring Afghanistan, according to the reports.
Resolute Support, a coalition of about 16,000 troops, mostly consists of Americans advising and assisting Afghan forces in their battle against the Taliban and other militant groups.
Pakistan earned the status of the non-NATO ally for allowing US-led international forces to use these supply lines to invade Afghanistan in 2001 and oust the Taliban from power.
Pakistan is considered the safest and cheapest route to resupply NATO troops. Other possible routes that go through Iran and central Asian countries are more expensive and pass through a region Russia considers its backyard.