Pak-Afghan border to remain open 24/7 from Monday

By Nasir Aijaz
AsiaN Correspondent

Islamabad: Pakistan will begin round-the-clock operation of Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan on a trial basis from Monday to facilitate the movement of traders, transporters and other people of two countries, said an official statement.

The statement was issued in Peshawar by the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw Province following the federal government’s instructions for opening the Pakistan-Afghanistan border round-the-clock. It currently open during the day in two shifts.

The statement said Provincial Chief Minister Mahmood Khan directed the quarters concerned to initiate night services at the Torkham border crossing from Monday on a trial basis, which would be the first ever attempt to open the Pak-Afghan border 24/7.

The chief minister said the border to be formally opened by Prime Minister Imran Khan soon would promote bilateral and regional trade.

Torkham in Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw province and Chaman in Balochistan province are major Pakistani trade routes to Afghanistan and Central Asian States. There are also small notified land routes in Kurram, North Waziristan and South Waziristan tribal districts.

The Ghulam Khan border crossing, which was closed in the wake of military operation in North Waziristan tribal district in June 2014, has also been partially put into operation.

The landlocked Afghanistan largely depends on Pakistan for trade, while the war-torn country has also opened its air corridors for trade with China and India. These corridors also pass through Pakistan’s airspace.

Around 13,000 people and 1,000 cargo vehicles pass through Torkham border daily. Human movement between the two countries has been regulated after the government introduced border management plan in 2017.