ISLAMABAD: Chaman-Spin Boldak land border crossing, the main crossing point between Pakistan and Afghanistan, reopened Tuesday after a closure of nearly a month when the Taliban shut it claiming that traders, patients and passengers were “facing difficulties”.
The border – one of the two main crossings between the two nations – was closed by the Taliban last month after Islamabad rejected their demand for allowing the Afghanistan nationals to enter Pakistan only on the basis of their local identity cards instead of other travel documents.
Since October 5, trade and pedestrian movement remained closed between the two sides, causing heavy losses to the Afghan trade, especially exports of Afghanistan’s prized pomegranates.
Pakistan has long been a big market for Afghan pomegranates.
The development followed an agreement reached between Pakistan and Afghanistan authorities Monday.
Pakistan has also waived off visa processing charges for Afghan citizens up to December 31, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmad Khan tweeted on Tuesday, adding this is in pursuance of the decision of Prime Minister Imran Khan to “facilitate Afghan nationals’ travel to Pakistan.”
Footage aired on channels showed trucks loaded with fruits, grains, and other goods crossing into both sides of the border.
According to customs authorities, the border will remain open 24 hours for trade activities.
Ambassador Khan on Monday said an agreement had been reached with local authorities to reopen the border.
“As a result of a meeting between border authorities, Afghanistan and Pakistan have decided to open [the] Chaman-Boldak crossing from tomorrow [Tuesday] for pedestrians as well as trade. The two sides will now look forward to ensuring smooth operations of the important border crossing,” a report quoted Khan as saying.
The envoy said he had recently called on Afghanistan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and, among other issues, they had discussed the need for opening the Boldak-Chaman crossing at the earliest, ensuring the facilitation of cross-border movement of people and trade vehicles on both sides, especially because it was the fruit harvest season in Afghanistan.
“We also had discussions about following up on the recent visit of the foreign minister of Pakistan to Kabul, which was extremely productive. We remain closely engaged with Afghan authorities for facilitating the movement of people at all border crossings,” he said.
According to a senior member of the Chaman Chamber of Commerce, Usman Achakzai, the decision to reopen the Chaman-Spin Boldak crossing was taken at a meeting held on the Afghan side of the border on Monday morning.
The Taliban government’s deputy spokesman Bilal Karimi also confirmed that both sides had reached an understanding that passengers should not face difficulties.
“Similarly, imports and exports via Chaman-Spin Boldak should continue without any hurdles. Both sides have also agreed that there should be no problem in the transit trade. We have held discussions on the issue and I am confident that a permanent solution will be found out,” Karimi said.
The Taliban had closed the key crossing along the frontier with Afghanistan in Balochistan on October 5, claiming that “traders, patients and passengers were facing difficulties [at the border]”.
Pakistan shares a 2,200-kilometer- (1,375 mile-) long porous border with landlocked Afghanistan. They share 18 crossing points — the most frequently used are Torkham and Chaman.
Torkham border was reopened on September 14.
— With additional input from Anadolu Agency
