Pakistan may tax ground shipments to NATO troops

Pakistan is considering plans to slap millions of dollars in new charges on future supplies taken through the countrys land route for US-backed Western troops in Afghanistan, senior Pakistani government officials and a minister have told CBS News.The payments are being considered in the name of costs such as for inspection of cargo and maintenance of infrastructure worn down by trucks.Though the exact scale of funds planned to be earned remains unclear, senior Western diplomats warned that the move could further strain Pakistans already troubled ties with the US-led international security assistance force or ISAF in Afghanistan.Western diplomats warned that Pakistans demand for charging large sums of money on cargo for Afghanistan will not help improve its trust with its partners, including the USThe issue is not just financial. The problem is, we dont know how this plan (for higher charges) will play itself out diplomatically, one senior Western diplomat in Islamabad told CBS News on condition of anonymity. I fear this plan will keep Pakistan locked in its currently strained relationship (with the US-led western alliance) because the message from Pakistan will be a negative one.Though Pakistan hasnt specified a timeline for resumption of the truck facility, the Pakistani government officials and a minister who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity, said they expect it to be resumed within weeks.Nobody wants to keep the facility shut forever. The bigger question now is, what will be the conditions attached for the future, said a senior government official who spoke on condition of anonymity.The Pakistani government minister who also spoke on condition that he will not be named said a decision has been reached in principal that when the supply route is re-opened, the trucks will have to bear a realistic cost which will go to the Pakistani government. In the past, each supply truck contributed less than $10 for passage through Pakistan. This is not realistic any more.Meanwhile, Pakistans foreign ministry officials defended a parliamentary review of the truck facility for Afghanistan.Obviously, one thing is very clear that this exercise is not to wreck our relations with any particular country. This exercise is to streamline our cooperation on such a sensitive issue, said Abdul Basit, the spokesman of the foreign ministry in Islamabad.