Afghans struggle to supplant poppies with fruit crops

Frosty relations between Kabul and Islamabad have put a brake on Afghanistan's ambitious plans to boost fruit exports, seen as vital to providing farmers an alternative to poppy cultivation which fuels the Taliban insurgency. Pomegranates and grapes have long been the pride of Afghan agriculture, but exports from the landlocked country have suffered due to poor air connectivity and frequent border closures by the country's regional nemesis Pakistan. The sight of hundreds of long-haul trucks stuck along border towns became all too common in 2016, with tonnes of fruits and perishable items going to waste and forcing some farmers to return to the more lucrative cultivation of poppy. "We invested huge sums of money on growing fresh fruits in our orchards," grape farmer Abdul Samad from Panjwai district in southern Kandahar told AFP. "We are very frustrated that Pakistan frequently shut the border during harvest season. We have no choice but to return to poppy farming. It will fetch us a lot more money than fruits." Pakistan sporadically shut the main border crossings as tensions flared due to firing incidents between the troops of both nations. Pakistan announced last June it was planning more check posts and fencing along the 2,600-kilometre (1,600-mile) frontier to filter the flow of militants. The move prompted consternation from Afghanistan which does not officially recognise the so-called Durand Line as the international border. In 2015 around 52,000 tonnes of pomegranates were exported to Pakistan, the UAE and India. Last year the exports dropped to 15,000 tonnes, a small fraction of the total production. Other fruit exports also suffered. "We were ready and hoping to export up to 40,000 tonnes of grapes from Kandahar, but Pakistan closed the gate for 17 days (in October), not allowing our traders to export their produce," said Nasrullah Zaheer, head of the Afghan chamber of commerce in Kandahar. - 'Determined to grow poppy' -

Agriculture Minister Assadullah Zamir accused Pakistan of using border security as a pretext to sabotage Afghan exports and shield its own farmers from competition. "This is not the first time that border closures have happened. We had exactly the same issue in 2015 during harvest time," he said, without stating the estimated monetary losses. "But we are here to support our farmers and the government is willing to cover a part of alternate transportation costs such as air cargo," he added. New Delhi recently announced it would launch an air-cargo link between Afghanistan and India that will help it bypass its border issues and open new markets for traders. The plans, however, remain at initial stages, frustrating farmers. For years, Afghanistan has tried to give farmers alternatives such as fruit crops and saffron to wean them away from poppy farming -- the lifeblood of the Taliban insurgency. But those efforts are failing and opium remains an economic linchpin for many Afghans. Farmers need not bother with exports as a sprawling network of drug smugglers picks up opium produce directly from their farms, offering lucrative prices that normally far exceed the income from traditional agriculture. In 2016, Afghanistan saw a 10 percent jump in opium cultivation compared to the previous year because of bumper harvests, collapsing eradication efforts and declining international aid to combat drugs. "Even if the government arrests us we are determined to grow poppy," said Kandahar farmer Abdul Shukoor. "Pakistan closes the border randomly and our government is doing nothing."

CPEC achieves exceptional progress in 2016

Remarkable progress has been achieved in mega project of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in 2016. Chinese media reported that 16 early harvest projects, including several power stations, highways and projects related to Gwadar Port, are under construction and tens of thousands of new jobs have been created for the local people. Last month, a trade convoy organised by the two countries successfully passed through the western part of Pakistan for the first time from the North to the South, proving the connectivity of local roads and the realisation of the concept of one corridor with multiple passages under the CPEC. Meanwhile, Gwadar Port has also marked its first export of massive containers to overseas destinations in November, showing that the port’s designed handling capacity has been restored. "Since the commencement of the CPEC, 2016 is the year when we have seen a project completed or start working. In addition to the Gwadar Port operations, PM Nawaz has also inaugurated a number of others projects in the country, especially in some routes in the western part of the CPEC. There are at least 39 projects, the majority of them related to energy, where obvious progress has been seen during 2016," Saeed Chaudhry, director of the Islamabad Council for International Affairs, told Xinhua in a recent interview. Chaudhry’s remarks include the second phase of upgrading the Karakorum Highway from Havelian to Thakot and the highway linking Pakistan’s largest cities of Karachi and Lahore. Both of the two highways have been smoothly implemented and for the former, the Abbottabad Tunnel construction project has begun and seen substantive progress.

 In terms of the energy field, China is helping to boost green, low-carbon and sustainable energy development to address power shortage in Pakistan. Several wind power farms and hydro-power stations are under construction and the eye-catching Port Qasim coal-fired power project in Karachi, which adopts a costly method to lower the temperature of the seawater used to cool the generating units in order to prevent them from heating up water temperature around the coast, is expected to be completed ahead of schedule and play its role in addressing Pakistan’s electricity shortage.

"We are not coming only for big projects, we are here to help countries, such as Pakistan, to plan and design their future energy development blueprints so as to address problems they are facing and to make the projects a reality," Yan Zhiyong, Chairman of the Power Construction Corporation of China, who is in-charge of the construction of the Port Qasim coal-fire power project, told Xinhua earlier. According to Bilal Khan, a senior economist at Standard Chartered Bank, Pakistan, due to the enhanced infrastructure such as roads and railways brought by the CPEC, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth should increase from around 4.7 percent last year to around 6 percent by 2019, and stay around the same level for 2020 in the country. "The CPEC itself, for Pakistan at a bare minimum, offers a significant opportunity for the country to address its supply-side constraints, such as weak foreign capital inflow," Bilal Khan told Xinhua earlier, adding that the CPEC will attract foreign direct investment from both private and public sectors to help in keeping a balanced current account in Pakistan against a backdrop of rebounding oil prices. "Before the CPEC, Pakistan’s economy was feeble and stagnant, and investors, even ones from Pakistan were reluctant to invest, but now the economic indicators of Pakistan have turned positive, investors from around the world are flocking to Pakistan, and the country’s economy has been given new life and is booming and full of future prospects. Pakistan’s main issue is shortage of revenue and unemployment, but the CPEC will provide solutions for the both," Chaudhry also pointed out  The professor also said that further afield, from Russia to central Asian states to Sri Lanka, the CPEC will bring a change to the countries’ economies and to the lives of more than 3 billion people living in this region."The project has already become the center of global attention, especially in our region," he concluded.

Pakistani man wrongly arrested for Berlin attack fears for family

Naveed Baloch, a Pakistani who was wrongly arrested for the Berlin truck attack on Friday said, he had told German police he could not even drive and was now afraid for the safety of his family back home. Baloch, an asylum seeker from the troubled province of Balochistan, told the Guardian newspaper he had just left a friend's house and was crossing a street when he saw a police car approaching fast and picked up his pace. He said he was arrested and taken to a police station, where he was undressed and photographed. "When I resisted, they started slapping me," the 24-year-old, who has been living in a secret location provided by police since his release because he says he is afraid for his life, told the British daily. Baloch, who sought refuge in Germany as a member of a secular separatist movement in Balochistan, said he struggled to communicate because no translator could be found who could speak his native Balochi. "I calmly told them I cannot drive at all. Neither can I even start a vehicle," he said. Baloch was arrested on December 19 in the hours after the attack on a Christmas market in the heart of Berlin in which 12 people were killed. Police released Baloch 24 hours later, after failing to find evidence of his involvement. They instead identified rejected Tunisian asylum seeker Anis Amri as the prime suspect. Amri was shot dead by Italian police on December 23 after fleeing a manhunt in Germany. Baloch, a shepherd by profession, said members of his family in the village of Mand in Balochistan in southwest Pakistan had received threatening phone calls following his arrest. "Now they all know I fled to Germany, fearful of my life, and that I am claiming asylum here. It leaves my family very vulnerable and there's nothing I can do to protect them," he told the Guardian. Baloch said he left Pakistan around a year ago, arriving in Germany via Iran, Turkey and Greece, because of death threats he had received for his activism for the Baloch National Movement.

"Most of the people I worked with have been arrested and killed. I knew it was a matter of time before they came for me. That's the reason I came to Germany," he said.

Mineral-rich Balochistan province has been plagued for decades by a separatist insurgency and sectarian killings.

Chinese to outnumber Baloch natives by 2048

Given the current rate of influx of Chinese nationals into Balochistan and after the completion of the CPEC the native population of the area will be outnumbered by 2048. To address the concern of the Baloch citizens regarding marginalisation, the government should provide a sense of security to the natives by including them in the legislative process, and by providing them with technical and vocational training to ensure their share in the economic sphere, recommended a report launched by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI). The report was launched by FPCCI President Rauf Alam at a press conference here on Wednesday. Alam said the government could not separate the representations of the private sector and the main stakeholder of the economy from formulation of a policy regarding the CPEC. He said the FPCCI had constituted an advisory committee on the CPEC, which prepared a comprehensive report. Alam said the advisory committee on the CPEC had categorised all the ambiguities and controversial argument in six statements. Dr Ayoub, head of research of the FPCCI, also gave a presentation to the media about the report on the CPEC prepared by the advisory committee on the CPEC. As per the report the most important apprehension of the people of Balochistan relates to change in demography. Gwadar is the ultimate destination of the CPEC while Balochistan is the least-populated province of Pakistan with rich natural resources. These characteristics attract the people to settle in Baluchistan, while the CPEC will facilitate the people to travel and settle in the province. It is quite obvious that ethnic patterns of population distribution will be affected by the inflow of people from China and other parts of Pakistan, the report said.  The report said conservatively 0.44 persons per thousand migrate from china because of economic reasons that corroborates the inflow of more than 600,000 people per year in Pakistan after operating the CPEC.

At present Balochis are 55 per cent of the total population of Balochistan. The current growth rate of Balochistan’s population is 2.36 per cent. This growth in population is the composition of crude birth rate, death rate and migration of the people in Balochistan from other provinces of Pakistan. The stimulation results based on the existing rate of migration from China at 0.44 persons per thousand and rate of population growth at 0.43 per cent, we may predict that the share of Chinese in Balochistan’s population is destined to increase with the completion of the CPEC and by 2045 Chinese population may be greater than the population of people of Pakistani origin in the province. However, “we have projected the trends of population on the basis of existing rate of population in Balochistan province, mainland China and entire Pakistan as per the result the Pakistani origin peoples will remain in majority in Balochistan up to 2048.” The optimistic aspect of the CPEC is the speedy developing infrastructure and improving livelihood conditions in Balochistan. The incoming investors and settlers may offer attractive prices for land acquisition- even better than the growing market value.  This situation provides good financial opportunities to the poor natives of Balochistan. However, Balochs ask one question that how the unskilled people of the province will maintain their lives without land ownership which is their only asset? the report said. But the answer to this question depends on the government policy regarding protection of the rights of investors, foreign workers and immigrants.

The change in population dynamics is the usual part of development and progress. However, the report said that there were several possible ways to avoid undesired situations. One of the possibilities is to devise a mechanism where the training and educational facilities should be provided to the natives people on affordable cost and ensure their participation in economic activities including employment, business ownership and civic authorities. The second mechanism is to secure the political supremacy of local peoples either by reserve seats in legislative and political institutions or through discriminatory voting rights. The report covers the signing of the FTA with China and flooding of the Chinese products inflow of Chinese investment and migration of Chinese labour to Pakistan. The report further said due to the FTA with China the trade deficit between Pakistan and China reached nine billion dollars, which was only one billion during 2002-2003. China’s total share in Pakistan exports is around 11 per cent, while its 37 per cent import is from China. Import from China has rapidly grown since 2007 after signing the FTA with China. Pakistan is facing huge trade deficit even after the FTA with China. The analysis of five years of trade before and after the FTA with China showing that balance of trade is in favour of China. After the FTA, Pakistan’s import from China increased four times. The report recommended that in granting the incentives to Chinese investors and enterprises, the policy makers must not ignore the Pakistani investors. The FPCCI has demanded to grant the same incentives to Pakistani businessmen as being provided to the foreign investors, and protection of the interests of the residents of Balochistan and Gwadar in specific through legislation. Alam said the FPCCI also proposed to the government to give complete management of the economic zones under the CPEC to the private sector.

Indian media advises govt to join CPEC

After Lt Gen Aamir Riaz, Commander Southern Command, suggested the Indian government to shun enmity and join the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor a few days ago, the Indian media advised its government to become a part of the project rather than oppose it. A Chinese Foreign Ministry official recently said that the CPEC is an "open initiative" of its One Belt One Road project, but it would consider the possibility of other countries joining it through consensus with Pakistan. The Hindu, a renowned Indian English daily also saw it that way and advised its government to become a part of the initiative which was commenced in 2015 by Pakistan and China. For one, the Indian media has highlighted the role of China as a global power and its efforts in redrawing the whole One Belt One Road initiative of China along Central Asia, just to incorporate Pakistan's interests. India has been unsuccessful in pinning Pakistan down as far as terrorism is concerned, with China blocking India's efforts time and again to accuse Pakistan of extending support to terrorist groups. Also, it was China which thwarted India's efforts to become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. According to The Hindu, not only China but another important player in the region, Iran has expressed the desire for Gwadar to be a 'sister port' to Chabahar. Not only that, several Central Asian states such as Turkmenistan and others want to see Gwadar developed as an important port through which goods can move through Pakistan to the Chinese city of Kashgar.

Noting the importance of the meeting in Moscow among Russian, Chinese and Pakistani officials on Afghanistan this week, the editorial commented this ‘indicate much more is changing in the region than just the alignment of highways and tunnels’. "India cannot afford to be blindsided by their involvement with the OBOR project and Chinese plans. CPEC is no longer a project in Pakistan, but one that runs through it, a project that will link 64 countries," reads the editorial of The Hindu. So far, the Indian government has not responded to the offer extended by the Pakistani General but the case made by its media is a stellar one. Quoting the editorial, "CPEC is no longer a project in Pakistan, but one that runs through it, a project that will link 64 countries."

Religious extremism and terrorism in Pakistan

Pakistan was created in the name of religion but the aim was not to turn it into a theocratic state, since most of the founding members were secular and progressive in their approach. The primary objective was to have a separate country where Muslims in the subcontinent could establish a social welfare state for economic and identity purposes. But in later years we have seen a gradual transformation towards a more radical and orthodox Islamic state. The reasons for this shift were numerous ranging from instability of political institutions, economic chaos, military intervention, religion cum political entity power game in the national arena, international events and so on and so forth. But the period of Zia’s military regime proved to be a vital phase for spreading, infusing and injecting religious extremism, radicalization, fundamentalism, sectarianism and intolerance into the Pakistani society. This has resulted in Pakistan being more concerned with internal security challenges rather than external, as extremism and terrorism take the monstrous shape of religious and sectarian militancy. Extremist sanctuaries are present in every nook and cranny of the country in the form of ‘madrassas’. Extremist religious entities are playing a prominent role in national, political and social spheres. Though Pakistan’s government and the military establishment, which supported such groups before, are now taking certain steps to curtail terrorism. It has now become a very difficult task since the genie of extremism and terrorism is out of the bottle and requires great effort, patience and consistency to deal with.   Pakistan is currently facing various kinds of terrorism which are unique, difficult and multifaceted and which have trapped her like an octopus traps its prey. One such form is ethnic terrorism, and Pakistan became a victim of it in its early years when East Pakistan felt alienated on the question of national language, which ultimately resulted in its dismemberment from the rest of Pakistan. Nowadays various sub-nationalities are fighting with the federation over their identity, recognition and rights. They are frustrated by the permanent majority of one province in the center and the exploitation of their natural resources as well as cultural and social identity. Another form is sectarian terrorism which is at the top in present time. This form started to develop during Zia’s period whose regime supported and forced the Deobandi sect of Islam on the culturally and religiously diverse masses. The Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979 was a major stimulus for sectarian terrorism. Sectarian terrorism has affected all parts of the country but its sporadic strikes are mostly present in the northern and southern areas of Punjab, posing a real threat to the national security of the country. The epicenter of this form was initially Afghanistan but spread towards Pakistan owing to its alliance and active support for the West in fighting a proxy war against the Soviet Union. Later this form was used by the Pakistani military establishment on the Kashmir front. But now the monster has taken a hold over the whole country and converted it into a jungle, where everyone is fighting each other by adopting this name. After 9/11 Pakistan’s government and military establishment took a U-turn in their policies towards the Taliban, by utilizing negotiations and military means to eradicate these groups. Pakistan is also a hot bed of Islamic militancy with various militant organizations being fully operative and often resorting to violence in the name of Islam. Such organizations took root when Pakistan, during the Soviet War, started to support anti-modern, extremist and intolerant forces eventually losing control of them and having them erode law and order situation in addition to damaging the social fabric of the society. Another form of terrorism is minority and separatist movements which are vividly showing their effects in Balochistan. Such separatists are clinching to violence based activities to have their voices heard. Almost all such terror activities and terrorists emerge from religious seminaries, which are in abundance throughout the country irrespective of urban or rural spheres.The motive of all these forms of terrorism, it seems, is to enforce their beliefs on others and stop the way towards a progressive and modern country. For this very purpose they are crossing every limit and are posing serious danger to national security. After the horrendous attack on the Twin Towers, the Bush administration took a rigid stance of “with us or against us” and Pakistan was left with no other option but to join hands with the US. Though Pakistan joined the ‘War on Terror’ of the USA, the ‘war’ has become our own to fight. Before 9/11, Pakistan’s domestic environment was about to collapse owing to weak political and economic development caused by friction among modern and fundamentalist forces, regionalism and ethnic conflicts.  Pakistan’s economy was on the verge bankruptcy. Economic growth was very slow and foreign investment was almost non-existence in addition to international economic sanctions imposed due to Pakistan’s nuclear experiments in 1998. Political and social spheres were depicting a gloomy picture. Democratically elected government had been taken over by a military coup. The bureaucracy was indulged in plundering public wealth; public representatives were openly engaging in nepotism and corruption, religious and sectarian strife was at peak and challenging the writ of the government. Regionally Pakistan had a sour relationship with her neighbors: India was angry owing to the Kargil war adventure, China was unhappy owing to Pakistan’s support for the Taliban, Iran had concerns regarding the atrocities committed on Shia Muslims in Pakistan, Central Asian States had objections regarding the spread of Taliban and similar militant forces into their countries. Globally, the image of Pakistan was distorted because of its nuclear policy, support for Taliban government and a lack of democratic credentials. After 9/11, Pakistan wisely decided to side with USA in its ‘War on Terror’ which turned a new stone in Pakistan’s history. Pakistan came into limelight regionally and globally. US offered generous economic and social support to Pakistan in various sectors which supported the eroding economic situation. By shunning the extremist and militant forces and taking up the active role of a frontline state, international community started respecting and taking Pakistan as a responsible international entity. In spite of these opportunities, Pakistan faced many challenges. One of the major ones was that after the fundamental strategic shift, Taliban and its alliances turned their guns towards Pakistan and infiltrated the country launching a full scale combat with security forces and law enforcing agencies.  The challenges for a strong Pakistan are a stable economy, social stability, education reform, re-orientation of civil society and strong law and order. The cumulative result of past blunders is that the whole country is in the grip of violence. The country has been isolated internationally as foreign countries are blaming Pakistan for not making sincere efforts to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorist and extremist outfits in Pakistan.

Iran offers to provide latest buses to improve public transport system in Pakistan

Iranian Consul General Mehdi Sobhani has offered to provide modern buses to improve public transport in Pakistan, especially in Sindh Province. According to Radio Tehran report, the Consul General made the offer in a meeting with Sindh Minister for Transport and Mass Transit Nasir Hussain Shah on Monday. The Minister lauded the Iranian Consul General for offering assistance in various transport-related projects and offering to provide 200 modern buses to improve public transport in the city. He said provision of a modern transport system to the people was a priority of the government and efforts were underway on various projects in this regard. Iranian diplomat Mehdi Sobhani also invited the Minister to bring along officials of the transport department to Iran on an exposure visit to witness the modern urban transport system operating in Tehran.