Islamabad, May 27 (ANI): As Pakistan and the United States make some headway in bilateral talks, Islamabad's demand for 5,000 dollars per container for transporting goods to Afghanistan through its territory remains the biggest stumbling block.
Pakistan officials, however, have justified their demand by saying Islamabad's demand is "neither irrational nor out of the blue", reports The Express Tribune.
According to the officials, the supplies made to ISAF and NATO forces stationed in Afghanistan have ruined Pakistan's road infrastructure over the last nine years of cooperation, adding that the infrastructure was used for eight years without paying any charges.
In the ninth year, the U.S. started paying a nominal handling fee of 220 dollars per container to National Logistic Cell, the army's logistics arm, officials said.
U.S. Senator John McCain, on the other hand, had claimed that the U.S. was paying 250 dollars per container to Pakistan, reports the paper.
The officials stated that roads in Pakistan are designed to have a life of ten years but have depreciated significantly since the damage caused by a single container is equivalent to 1,500 to 2,000 cars. Therefore the National Highway Authority requires 1.6 billion dollars to rebuild the roads, for this purpose alone, it has proposed a charge of 1,000 dollars per container.
The additional 4,000 dollars includes charges for scanning, inspection and examination of the supplies, charges on account of road safety, environmental impact and port services, they added.
The U.S. has termed 5000 dollars demand as "extortion" and has threatened Pakistan that sticking to the demand may put its ties with NATO countries at risk, officials added. (ANI)
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