Pakistan to earn $365 million from NATO supply route

Pakistan may earn $365 million annually under an agreement with the United States, following the reopening of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's supply routes for American troops in Afghanistan.

The United States is expected to pay Pakistan a fee of $1,500 to $1,800 dollars for every truck carrying supplies through the country.

According to some officials, the bill is estimated to go up to $1 million per day, reports The Christian Science Monitor.

The US, in return, has asked Pakistan to provide security for the supplies, which are transported using private local companies, faster customs clearance and checkpoints, reveals the report. Pakistan has not provided security to trucks carrying NATO supplies in the past.

It is estimated that as many as 600 trucks will pass through Pakistan every day between now and next year.

The Defence Committee of the Cabinet had earlier given a go-ahead to lift the six-month old blockade on NATO supply routes passing through the country, which had been blocked after the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers during an air raid last year along a border post in Mohmand Agency.

The demand for an apology for the raid has been the bone of contention between Pakistan and the US for reopening the supply routes. Acting Assistant Defence Secretary George Little has said the US is still non-committal towards a Pakistani demand for a formal apology.

With the reopening of supply routes, traders of looted goods, the military and militants in tribal areas are expected to make profits, states a report in The Washington Post, as local transport associations have revealed the military indirectly controls 30 per cent of NATO oil tanker contracts.

Traders of looted goods had earlier experienced a downward trend for their business, but are now expecting a boost. Militants in the tribal area too will benefit once supply routes reopen. They are known to demand protection money from transport companies and also attack trucks to steal the goods.