- As Pakistan’s private sector buys Afghan coal to power its facilities, the government and people of war-torn Afghanistan benefit from the economic activity produced by bilateral commerce
- Currently, three Pakistani businesses are engaged in coal trading with Afghanistan, since no agreement has been reached between the two countries
- According to the Afghan Chambers of Commerce and Investment, the increase in coal exports was responsible for the increase in the country’s yearly earnings
ISLAMABAD: As Pakistan’s private sector buys Afghan coal to power its facilities, the government and people of war-torn Afghanistan benefit from the economic activity produced by bilateral commerce, BOL News reports on Monday.
Currently, three Pakistani businesses are engaged in coal trading with Afghanistan, since no agreement has been reached between the two countries.
However, while Pakistan and its business sector work to help their Afghan brothers via economic restoration, unfriendly groups are set to disrupt the initiatives to serve their interests.
TOLO News in Afghanistan recently revealed that all three Pakistani businesses buying commerce from Afghanistan were affiliated with the Pakistan Army and were acquiring coal at lower costs. However, coal imports are carried out by private enterprises on both sides, with no connection to the Pakistani government or institutions. Even the Afghan Ministry of Petroleum denied the existence of any official contract for the export of Afghan coal with the Government of Pakistan or any Pakistani entity.
According to the details, the Afghan media story is based on disinformation and lacks credibility because two of the three enterprises are privately held and have no ties to the military forces. Currently, Afghanistan’s coal trading industry is one of its most important revenue sources, with an economic cycle that benefits everyone from miners to transporters.
According to the Afghan Chambers of Commerce and Investment, the increase in coal exports was responsible for the increase in the country’s yearly earnings.
False reporting and narratives, on the other hand, are intended to destroy ordinary people’s livelihoods. The Afghan media’s idea that Pakistan was depriving Afghanistan of its natural resources is a complete illusion because Afghanistan is in a win-win scenario in this entire coal trade.
The Afghan government awards contract to all Afghan coal businesses that hire all Afghan labor for coal extraction within the terms of the trade. The extracted coal is delivered by Afghan lorries, who pay tolls and export duties to the Afghan government to enter Pakistan. Finally, Pakistan’s private sector pays Afghans to purchase coal.
Pakistan’s power plant is the single buyer of low-grade Afghan coal, and if Pakistan switches to other less expensive coal suppliers, Afghanistan’s ordinary people, mining sector, and government would be the only losers. As a result, the Afghan government and people must not fall prey to unscrupulous leaders who have amassed vast fortunes and gone overseas, only to want to obstruct the way to wealth and progress for abandoned Afghans.
The Afghan people must recognize that those spreading anti-Pakistan propaganda are the true perpetrators, who have been engaged since August 2021. Because they are incapable to provide for the Afghan people, they are engaging in propaganda against a willing supporter and long-time tested and trusted friend of Afghanistan and its people.
The Taliban regime has benefited from coal exports in terms of money generation. According to reports, as of May 27, 2022, officials have earned almost 3 billion Afghanis (USD 33.80 million) in customs revenue on more than 16 billion Afghanis in coal shipments during the previous six months.
This economic recovery poses a danger to all collaborators and sympathizers who have banded together to oppose the Taliban rule. Because Afghanistan lacks working international banking systems, coal shipments to Pakistan are a crucial source of cash for Afghan suppliers, who are unable to trade with any other country.
The mutually beneficial coal trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan undermines the hostile aims of antagonistic forces/elements.
According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, a consortium of investigative centers, media, and journalists operating in Eastern Europe, an August 2021 investigation uncovered an illegal mining corruption ring in Afghanistan involving SOS International (SOSi), a Virginia company with links to US military and intelligence.
Hashmat Ghani, the brother of former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, owns the SOSi subsidiary Southern Development. SOSi has been working in Afghanistan primarily as a front for the US Department of Defense.
Previous Afghan regimes and their accomplices are the real looters of riches and destabilizers of Afghan peace. According to the OCCRP, the advances made by SOSi and Southern Development into Afghanistan’s mineral processing sector stem from a 2011 attempt by US special forces to cooperate illegally with members of a pro-government Afghan militia on mining in Kunar province.
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