Alwaght- Pakistan is considering an increase in the toll tax of containers carrying military hardware and weapons for US-led NATO troops in Afghanistan amid a rift with the US.
Pakistani authorities will likely put in place a 100 to 150 percent raise in the tax.
The Pakistani Ministry of Communication is said to present a revision of the toll tax rate on NATO containers to the prime minister for approval.
The government in Islamabad charges $2,500 per NATO container. The trucks use national highways from the southern port city of Karachi to Torkham and Chaman crossings on the Pakistani-Afghan border.
Islamabad is also mulling charging aeronautical fee to NATO for using Pakistan's airspace. NATO used Pakistan's airspace over 350 times per month when the Afghan war was at its peak.
At least 360 NATO flights used Pakistan airspace on a monthly basis when Afghan war was at its peak.
In 2011, all supply of military hardware to NATO and US troops is carried out through Karachi port. The supply remained suspended for at least eight months after a NATO helicopter intentionally attacked and martyred 27 soldiers at Salala check post.
Meanwhile there are reports that Pakistan is suspending military ties and intelligence sharing with the US, the Pakistani defense minister said, following accusations and aid cuts by President Donald Trump.
Speaking at a public event set up by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) on Tuesday, Defense Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan told the gathering that “there is also a wide field of intelligence cooperation and defense cooperation which we have suspended,” according to the Pakistan Tribune.
He did not go into specifics but said the suspension of military and intelligence ties comes on the heels of a recent announcement by US President Donald Trump that Washington was going to curb aid flows to Pakistan.
“Now all veils are off… It is time for a courteous yet ruthlessly candid dialogue between Pakistan and the United States,” Khan said.
