ANP jirga urges govt to open trade routes with Afghanistan

KHAR: The grand jirga of Awami National Party on Saturday asked the government to open trade routes with Afghanistan to promote business ties between the two neighbouring countries.

Organised by the Bajaur chapter of ANP, the jirga was attended by a large number of political, religious and social figures, elders and traders.

Speaking on the occasion, ANP leaders Sheikh Jahanzada, Nisar Baz Khan, Bajaur Chamber of Commerce president Lali Shah and others said that the government had closed the trade routes with Afghanistan in the name of law and order.

They urged the government to open the border points with Afghanistan at Nawa Pass, Ghakhi Pass, Laitai and Kaga Pass to facilitate traders as shutting the border had inflicted heavy losses on the businesspeople of the district.

The jirga also asked the government to provide the clean drinking water to the residents of Chamarkand and stop cutting of forests in the district.

They believed that it was the economic murder of Pakhtuns on both sides of the border to keep the routes between Pakistan and Afghanistan closed without any plausible reason.

The speakers said that governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan should take joint steps to open the trade routes and facilitate the people and traders on both sides of the Durand Line.