PESHAWAR: The Pakistan officials said that Afghan Taliban on Monday morning closed the Torkham border crossing – the main crossing point between Pakistan and Afghanistan – for pedestrian movement after Pakistan refused to keep the border open for Afghans.
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The Taliban announced that no Pakistani will be allowed to enter Afghanistan through Torkham however there will be no restrictions on Afghans coming from Pakistan to their country. According to sources, the Taliban have demanded Pakistan to lift the ban on Afghans entering Pakistan from Afghanistan. But the Pakistani officials have closed the border and only commercial and transit vehicles are allowed to cross the border point. Pakistan had completely closed the border after the spike in Covid-19 cases in July.
The Taliban said, “The Torkham border will remain closed for Pakistanis pedestrian until Afghans are allowed to enter Pakistan,” the Taliban said. The border closures could cause severe hardship to Pakistanis stranded in Afghanistan. The Pakistani border officials said that they are facilitating the ailing people to enter Pakistan for medical treatment. But the country has warned that it will not accept any Afghan refugee as a result of the ongoing crisis.
Because of the uncertain situation, the exporters complaints that Pakistan experts to Afghanistan have reduced by 82 percent. President of the Frontier Customs Agents Association, Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi has said that Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan have reduced by 82% after Taliban seized control on 15 August.
Sarhadi said from 2002 to 2012, the total bilateral trade volume was $33 billion dollars but since then, there has been a steady declined in Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan. The bilateral trade in 2020 declined to 1.37 billion US dollars and now it has further declined. He said that there is an urgent need of amendments in Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit trade agreement and it is hoped that after the Taliban have taken over, the new transit trade agreement will be finalized soon.