ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's finance minister Shaukat Tarin said on Thursday his country would carry out bilateral trade with Afghanistan in Pakistani currency since the neighboring state was facing an acute shortage of US dollars since the withdrawal of international forces last month.
According to the local media, Tarin was briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and told its members that the administration in Islamabad was closely monitoring the situation in Kabul.
Economic experts and foreign currency traders in Pakistan had told Arab News earlier this month that Afghanistan's recent situation had put Pakistan's currency under pressure, adding that nearly $2 million were daily flowing out of their country to Afghanistan where the demand for US dollars had significantly increased.
"Tarin told the Senate committee that the government had decided to trade with Afghanistan in Pakistani currency, instead of dollars," Geo News reported. "He maintained that Afghanistan was facing shortage of dollars as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank had seized its reserves after the Taliban's takeover of the country."
The minister said "people could be sent from Pakistan to run various affairs in Afghanistan."
The Taliban have found it increasingly difficult to manage the affairs of the state after bringing Afghanistan under their military and political control.
Last month, the group asked former government functionaries not to "panic or try to go into hiding," saying they were required to run Afghanistan after the departure of foreign forces and nationals.
Pakistan to use national currency for bilateral trade with Afghanistan — Shaukat Tarin
https://arab.news/nm7zq
Pakistan to use national currency for bilateral trade with Afghanistan — Shaukat Tarin
- Afghanistan has been facing an acute shortage of US dollars since foreign forces left it last month
- Pakistan's finance minister said his country could also send people to run various affairs in Afghanistan
Pakistan rejects India’s ‘irresponsible assertions’ after FM Jaishankar’s ‘bad neighbors’ remarks
- Indian FM Jaishankar accused Pakistan of fomenting militancy, backed New Delhi’s decision to put Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance
- Islamabad calls the remarks an attempt to deflect attention from India’s ‘troubling record as a neighbor,’ vows to safeguard rights
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday rejected “irresponsible assertions” made by Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar after his remarks about “bad neighbors” and the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) between the two countries.
Jaishankar mentioned about “bad neighbors” at an event in Madras on Friday and said that New Delhi had a right to defend itself. “When you have bad neighbors... if you look to the one to the West, if a country decides that they will deliberately, persistently, unrepentantly continue with terrorism, we have a right to defend our people,” he was quoted as saying by The Hindu newspaper.
The remarks came months after New Delhi blamed Pakistan for a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir and conducted missile strikes inside Pakistan. Islamabad, which denied involvement in the Kashmir attack, responded to the strikes, leading to a four-day military conflict that saw the use of armed drones, fighter jets and artillery between the neighbors in May.
In a statement, Pakistani foreign office spokesman Tahir Andrabi said Islamabad firmly rejects the irresponsible assertions made by the Indian external affairs minister, describing the remarks as an attempt to deflect attention from India’s own “troubling record as a neighbor that promotes terrorism and contributes to regional instability.”
“India’s documented involvement in promoting terrorist activities in the region, particularly in Pakistan, is well known. The case of Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav remains a stark example of organized, state-sponsored terrorism directed against Pakistan,” he said.
“Equally concerning are recurring instances of extraterritorial killings, sabotage through proxies, and covert support to terrorist networks.”
Jadhav, an Indian navy officer who Islamabad said had been working with Indian spy agency, RAW, when Pakistani agencies arrested him in Balochistan in 2016. He was later sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged espionage. India disputes the conviction and has challenged it at the International Court of Justice.
Pakistan and India routinely accuse each other of supporting militant groups waging attacks against the other. The two countries have fought multiple wars, including two of them over the disputed region of Kashmir, since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both rule the region in part but claim it in full.
Jaishankar also spoke on Friday about the IWT that divides control of the Indus basin rivers between the neighbors and ensures water for 80 percent of Pakistani farms. India announced in April, following the Kashmir attack, that it was putting the 1960 World Bank-mediated treaty in abeyance.
“Many years ago, we agreed to a water-sharing arrangement — the belief was it was gesture of goodwill — because of good neighborliness we were doing it … but if you have decades of terrorism, there is no good neighborliness and you don’t get the benefit of good neighborliness,” Jaishankar was quoted as saying.
Pakistan foreign office spokesman Andrabi said the IWT is an international agreement concluded in good faith and at a considerable cost.
“Any unilateral violation of the Treaty by India would undermine regional stability and call into question its credibility as a state that claims to respect international legal obligations,” he said.
“Pakistan will take all necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights under the Treaty.”
