Border closure causing financial hardship for people on both sides
Livelihoods at stake as Pakistan and Afghanistan argue
PESHAWAR // The closure of the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is more than inconvenient. It is costly.
Officials on both sides said that in one month, the closure had resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost trade, and left tonnes of perishable goods rotting in lorries.
The closure was a result of beliefs by each country that the other is harbouring their militant enemies.
The long- standing tension reached a breaking point when Pakistan closed all border crossings on February 16 after a string of suicide attacks last month in which more than 125 people were killed.
Islamabad claimed the attacks were orchestrated from safe havens in Afghanistan.
Kabul, too, has been battered by attacks, the latest a coordinated assault against a military hospital in which more than 30 people were killed. Omar Zakhilwal, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan, has asked Islamabad to reconsider the closure.
Pakistan agreed, but only for two days to allow about 35,000 stranded Afghans and Pakistanis to return to their homes.
Aside from the political backand-forth and personal inconveniences, the closure is also damaging business in the region.
The border is one of the most lucrative trade crossings in South Asia.
Cross- border trade includes everything from supplies destined for Nato troops still stationed in Afghanistan to Afghan goods transiting Pakistan to the Arabian Sea port of Karachi destined for international markets, said senior Pakistani customs officer Samad Khan.
Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, senior vice president of the Afghanistan and Pakistan joint chamber of commerce, said the annual trade target of US$2 billion ( Dh7.34bn) has plunged to $ 1.5bn because of frequent border closures. The real potential, if the two neighbours could get along, is up to $4bn in annual trade, Mr Sarhadi said.
“We understand the sensitivities,” Mr Sarhadi said, referring to border security.
“However, the closures are already creating shortages of goods in Afghanistan.
“Afghanistan depends on Pakistan for everything from needles to helicopters.” The two countries share a 2,400-kilometre border, known as the Durand Line.
The bulk of the trade between them is construction material, meat, poultry, fresh and dry fruits.
The real victims, Mr Sarhadi said, were the small traders for whom a lorry load or two spoiling while stuck at the border could be devastating.
Since last month’s decision, more than 2,000 lorries have been stranded at the Torkham crossing on Afghanistan’s north-west border.
The prolonged closure “has affected us badly”, said Lal Raheem Shinwari, president of the traders association in the nearby Pakistani town of Landi Kotal.
“We, the residents and traders, are the worst affected.”
The Pakistani government will not say when the border might re-open. Each country has given the other a list of militants they want arrested and handed over. Afghanistan has also identified 23 insurgent sanctuaries in Pakistan it wants closed.
‘ The closures are already creating shortages of goods in Afghanistan Ziaul Haq Sarhadi senior vice president of the Afghanistan and Pakistan joint chamber of commerce