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PESHAWAR, Mar 19 (APP):The Torkham border crossing, a vital trade route between Pakistan and Afghanistan, was reopened on Wednesday after a 27-day closure.
The move came as a relief to thousands of goods-laden trucks that had been stranded on both sides of the border.
Zia ul Haq Sarhadi, Senior Vice President of the Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI) in a talk with APP welcomed the reopening and the resumption of cross-border trucks movement.
The border was closed on February 21, 2025, following disputes between the security forces of Pakistan and Afghanistan over construction of a check post.
On Wednesday at around 4:00 pm, the crossing was reopened after successful talks between Jirga members, allowing approximately 5,000 trucks to begin moving across the border from both sides.
Zia thanked the organizations including Sarhad Chamber of Commerce, leading businessmen from Pakistan and Afghanistan, Custom Clearing Agents and other for making contribution towards resumption of trade.
He also highlighted the adverse impact of frequent border closures on Pak-Afghan trade, which he said, plummeted from an estimated 2.5 billion dollars to five to six million dollars.
He blamed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s decision taken around four months earlier of enforcing Infrastructure Development Cess of two percent on export consignments.
Though the cess has been slashed from two to one percent, the decision diverted huge portion of business from KP to Balochistan, Zia added.