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Friday, March 15, 2024

Afghan exports to India will resume through Pakistan

Pakistan has decided to allow Afghan exports to India through the Wagah border, though India cannot send their exports to Afghanistan. Pakistan has also opened up multiple border crossings to allow for bilateral trade between itself and Afghanistan.

The Foreign Office on Monday said that Afghan exports to India through the Wagah border would resume from July 15.

The decision, the FO said, had been taken on Afghanistanā€™s reqĀ­uest for facilitating its transit trade. The trade would be conducted under the Covid-19 protocols.

Afghan exports to India to resume

ā€œWith this step, Pakistan has fulfilled its commitments under the Pakistan-Afghanistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA). Pakistan has restored bilateral trade and Afghan transit trade at all border crossing terminals to pre-Covid-19 status,ā€ the FO said.

Under the 2010 bilateral trade agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Afghan exports to India are allowed through the Wagah border. The agreement, however, does not allow Indian exports to Afghanistan through Pakistani territory.

The trade under the agreement was suspended in March after the Covid-19 outbreak when Pakistan closed all land border crossings with neighbours.

Read more: India is committed to spoiling peace efforts in Afghanistan

Last week, Angor Adda Border Crossing was opened for bilateral trade. Kharlachi crossing on Pak-Afghan border, too, has been opened for traffic.

Pakistanā€™s Special Envoy for Afghanistan Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq said: ā€œTrade should be the mainstay of Pak-Afghan relations and prosperity of region on both sides of the border.ā€

ā€œWe are moving ahead with promoting economic activity on both sides of the border. The Covid-19 SOPs are slowing us down a bit but our direction is right InshaAllah,ā€ he said.

In a statement, the FO said that Pakistan remained fully committed to further strengthening its bilateral relations with AfghaĀ­nistan in all areas including trade, and to facilitate Afghanistanā€™s transit trade under APTTA.

The SCCI president informed that about 70pc of Afghanistanā€™s exports to India are processed through Wagah border while 30pc of its trade with the rest of the world is done via Karachi port.

Pakistan Afghanistan borders reopened for tradeĀ 

Recently, Pakistan opened up more border crossings for bilateral trade between itself and Afghanistan.

ā€œPakistan will open Angor Adda and Kharlachi border crossings for trade with Afghanistan. After necessary arrangements by both sides, the two crossings are likely to become operational on 12 July,ā€ he tweeted.

Last month Islamabad reopened the Torkham, Chaman, and Ghulam Khan border crossings, after they were closed in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Read more: Pakistan and Afghanistan trade shows upward trend as border opened

The volume of trade between landlocked Afghanistan and its southern neighbor have been mostly affected by terrorist attacks in Pakistan that Islamabad blames on Afghanistan-based militants, which in turn led to the closure of border crossings.

The three key borders which respectively connect northeastern and southern Afghanistan, had remained closed for several months at different times since 2014.

All the three routes will remain open six days a week only for trade activities, Dawood said in a Twitter post.

ā€œIn the spirit of brotherly cooperation and regional connectivity, Pakistan shared Torkham and Chaman border terminal master plans with Afghanistan to enable concurrent and complimentary development on Afghan side,ā€ Sadiq added.

ā€œAn enhanced compatibility in trade infrastructure on both sides will help realize shared goal of optimum trade, connectivity and people to people facilitation between the two countries.ā€

Sadiqā€™s Afghan counterpart Atif Mashal welcomed Islamabadā€™s announcement, calling it an ā€œimportant step.ā€

ā€œWe are certain that the opening of more crossing points will help in the development of bilateral trade between both countries,ā€ Mashal tweeted.

https://twitter.com/MashalAtif/status/1278603504005808129

PML-N MNA Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha, while speaking on a point of order in the National Assembly, said it was unfortunate that the announcement, which would also benefit India, was made on a day when the Kashmir Martyrsā€™ Day was being observed across the country.

She regretted that opposition came to know about the decision to reopen the Wagah border for India-Afghan trade through the media.

The government, she said, should have taken the parliament into confidence before taking such a decision.

News Desk with addl input from other sources