After nearly two months, Pakistan has reopened the Torkham and Chaman routes for the passage of United Nations humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, media reports said on Thursday.
Geo News quoted Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi as saying that the crossings with Afghanistan have been partially reopened for UN aid. However, he clarified that trade between the two countries remains suspended.
The report added that to facilitate the process, the Ministry of Commerce has issued a formal letter to the Member Customs (Operations), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Islamabad, and the Director General of Transit Trade, FBR Karachi.
According to the letter, Pakistan—after coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—has approved the phased and delay-free passage of containers belonging to UNICEF, the World Food Programme, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) through the Torkham and Chaman routes.
About two months ago, Pakistan had closed all trade routes with Afghanistan after Pakistani forces carried out attacks near the Durand Line, violating Afghan territory. These actions were followed by retaliatory attacks by forces ofTaliban.
Following this, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs of Afghanistan, urged industrialists and traders to use alternative trade routes instead of Pakistan.
He warned that if they failed to do so, the Afghanistan would not address any problems they might face.
He stated that since Pakistan has repeatedly closed trade routes and continues to do so—using trade as a political tool and causing losses to traders and industrialists in both countries—the Taliban was forced to take this decision.
After rising tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, talks were held once in Qatar and twice in Turkey, but they did not yield positive results.
Zabiullah Mujahid, chief spokesperson for Taliban, said the irresponsible behavior and lack of cooperation of the Pakistani delegation prevented the Turkey talks from succeeding, despite the good intentions of the Afghanistan and the efforts of mediators.
Last week, talks were also held between the two sides in Saudi Arabia, but the results have not yet been announced.
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