US and Pakistan inked NATO Supply Agreement

After a week long negotiations, Pakistan and the US on 31 July 2012 finally signed an agreement on transporting supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan through Pakistan, until the end of 2015. The agreement was signed by Additional Defence Secretary Rear Admiral Farrukh Ahmed and US Charge d Affaires Richard Hoagland.

Under the agreement, the US will provide 1.1 billion dollar aid to Pakistan for fighting terrorists within its borders. The agreement will cease to exist by the end of 2015, though, it can be renewed for one-year intervals beyond that.
The agreement is set to replace the existing arrangements, which is not an official agreement and largely based on a verbal understanding.

Some of the major points of the agreement are as follows:

•  The agreement bars transportation of arms and ammunition for NATO/ISAF in Afghanistan via Pakistan

•  Arms shipments and equipments for training of Afghan security forces allowed

•  Routes from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are to be used by NATO tankers

•  No tax or duty to be levied on the containers though commercial carriers will have to pay a fee.

•  Pakistan to ensure the security and quick transfer of cargo while keeping the US authority in loop

•  Containers travelling to Afghanistan will be bound to return via Pakistan

•  The Defence Ministry which will act as a central coordination authority will review daily operations and other

matters related to the supply routes

•  Two monitoring offices for NATO supplies to be set up at the Defence Ministry and the US embassy