Govt urged to reopen Pak-Afghan border for trade

LANDIKOTAL: Calling for the resumption of trade activities via Torkham border, the Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI) on Saturday said that closure of border with Afghanistan affected business between the two countries and caused billions of rupees loss to both nations.

Talking to The News, PAJCCI senior vice-president Ziaul Haq Sarhadi said that many businessmen from both countries suffered losses during the last one week due to the closure of Torkham border.

He said thousands of shops, hotels, trading companies and other private businesses were closed due to the closure of the border.

Ziaul Haq Sarhadi said that around 2,000 cabs and coaches that were plying the Kabul-Torkham road have been parked as trade activities had come to a standstill.

“I am afraid that the trucks loaded with perishable goods on the Afghan side of the Torkham border would go rotten owing to the unavailability of cold storages in Afghanistan,” he added.

He said the closure of the border had caused billions of rupees loss to Pakistan and Afghanistan. He said trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan suffered due to the flawed foreign policies of the two governments.

Sarhadi said trade volume between Pakistan and Afghanistan had come down to Rs1.5 billion that was up to Rs2.5 billion before the closure of the border.

He asked Pakistan and Afghanistan governments to revive trade activities and increase import and export. 

Quoting international trade regulations and the statement of Afghan Ambassador Umar Zakhilwal, he said that closure of the Pak-Afghan border was violation of the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement. 

He claimed that no illegal goods could be transported to the country via Torkham border as Pakistani officials had put in place an online system to catch illegal goods.

Meanwhile, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Fata leaders have asked the government to reopen the border with Afghanistan as it rendered thousands of people jobless.

JUI-F Khyber Agency chapter’s deputy head Qari Azeem Gul and general secretary Qari Mussarat Shah Shinwari told a press conference that if the border was not reopened for trade activities thousands of families affiliated with trade would be compelled to move to other cities in Pakistan.

They said that 90 percent of tribal people did business at the border towns to support their families.