Pakistan has serious apprehensions that Afghanistan may block connectivity to ECO states

As the diplomatic row escalates, Pakistan voices fear that Afghanistan may create hurdles to prevent the use of its territory for goods transportation to member states of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) and European countries.

At present, Pakistan and China are executing a $57-billion economic corridor project. In the wake of this, Pakistan is exploring the option of connecting to the Central Asian states via land routes.

Earlier, Pakistan and Tajikistan were desirous of signing a transit trade agreement with Afghanistan, but the latter was hesitant and demanded inclusion of India in the agreement. However, Pakistan dismissed the demand, saying India could not be part of the deal unless it improved diplomatic ties.

Pakistan is a signatory of the ECO Transit Transport Framework Agreement (TTFA), which came into force on May 19, 2006. Its objectives include development and maintenance of mutually beneficial transit transport arrangements for regional and international trade.

However, Pakistan, along with Afghanistan, has so far not accepted the Convention on the Contract for International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR) while other ECO member states are party to the agreement.

Without accession to the CMR and the regulatory framework, the transportation of goods by Pakistani vehicles via land routes to the ECO member states and European countries will not be permissible.

Pakistan is very much cautious that the move would not bear fruit if Kabul did not accept the convention, which would create hurdles to the use of land routes linking with Central Asia and Europe.

In the first four years of the current government, exports of the country dipped around $4 billion, prompting the government to aggressively explore markets of Central Asia and Russia, which were energy and trade hubs.

Pakistan is wanted to increase its closeness to Central Asia that may become a gateway to Russia and Europe. However, there is no land connection, making it difficult for Pakistan to gain access to markets of these countries.

All ECO member states, except for Uzbekistan, signed the TTFA in May 1998. It is a broad-based agreement with eight protocols approved by the 3rd ECO ministerial meeting on transport and communications held in Islamabad in April 2000. These are pertaining to road, rail and inland water transportation, motor vehicles including third-party policy insurance, customs control and terms of reference for the Transit Transport Coordination Council.

The Economic Cooperation Organisation or ECO is a Eurasian political and economic intergovernmental organization which was founded in 1985 in Tehran by the leaders of Iran, Pakistan and Turkey. It provides a platform to discuss ways to improve development and promote trade and investment opportunities. The ECO is an ad hoc organisation under the United Nations Charter (Chap. VIII). The objective is to establish a single market for goods and services, much like the European Union.[2] ECO's secretariat and cultural department are located in Iran, its economic bureau is in Turkey and its scientific bureau is situated in Pakistan.

Current Membership: Islamic State of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan Republic, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Republic of Tajikistan, Republic of Turkey, Turkmenistan and Republic of Uzbekistan