Key points
- Crossing opened for trucks, critical patients
- Pedestrian crossings to resume this week
- Traders, patients pay heavy cost of border closure
ISLAMABAD: Trade between Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan resumed Wednesday at a key border post after an almost month-long closure.
The key trade and transit point was shut down following a dispute over Afghanistan’s construction of a border post.
The dispute turned violent when both sides exchanged gunfire, forcing trade and travel between the neighbours to come to a grinding halt.
After ten days of hectic shuttle diplomacy spearheaded by tribal elders from both sides, the northwestern Torkham border was reopened for trade and medical emergencies.
The border crossing is one of two main trade routes between Pakistan and its landlocked neighbour Afghanistan.
Pakistan and Afghanistan share 18 crossing points, the busiest of which are the Torkham and Chaman.
The Chaman border crossing connects Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province with Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province.
Simmering tensions
Tensions between the two countries have been at an all-time high since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban over terrorist attacks in Pakistan by groups reportedly operating from Afghanistan.
The Torkham crossing is in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where terrorists frequently target security forces and civilians.
The border has been closed multiple times in the recent past, mainly following accusations of attacks from Afghanistan and clashes between security forces of the neighbouring countries.
According to Dawn, ambulances were also parked close to the crossing on Wednesday at the time of the opening ceremony to shift the seriously ill Afghan patients to Pakistan, while traffic police hastened to regulate the heavy traffic as frustrated transporters tried to overtake each other in their bids to cross the border before sunset.
Trade volume
Trade between the neighbours is conducted under the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement, a bilateral deal signed in 2010.
According to the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce, trade between the two countries amounted to $2.5 billion in 2010 but dropped to $1.6 billion before settling at slightly over $1.8 billion in 2022-23.
In 2023, the trade volume was hugely weighted towards Pakistan according to the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industries, a trade body representing businessmen from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Pakistan reportedly had an 80 per cent share in the trade volume.
However, the chamber’s president said the percentage was brought down to 50-50 due to a de facto ban on imports by Afghanistan in the same year.
Toll of closure
Torkham is a vital trade link, facilitating around 1,500 cargo trucks daily, as per Profit Pakistan.
The closure of the Torkham border caused losses of millions of dollars for importers and exporters as some items perished.
Thousands of people, mainly Afghans, use the border crossings daily to seek medical treatment and earn a livelihood in Pakistan’s border areas.
When the borders closed, it adversely affects people on both sides.
Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, a director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, welcomed the resumption of bilateral trade while talking to ABC News.
He said he hoped the movement of people would resume this week.
Ghulam Ali, another Pakistani businessman, said the closure of the Torkham border had caused losses of millions of dollars for importers and exporters as some items perished. He thanked local tribal elders for facilitating the reopening.
During a similar closure in 2023, Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industries claimed that the closure caused a loss of $1 million in a week.
The closure of the Torkham border had caused losses of millions of dollars for importers and exporters.” – Ghulam Ali, Pakistani businessman
The figure was endorsed by Khanjan Alkozi, president of Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
