Business leaders of Pakistan, Afghanistan hold talks on reopening Torkham border crossing

Kabul, Jan 5 Business leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan held discussions on reopening the Torkham border crossing, aiming to ease trade disruptions between two nations, local media reported on Monday.

The Taliban-run Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment said that they and Pakistani counterparts agreed to establish a joint delegation to hold talks on reopening the Torkham border crossing, Afghanistan's Khaama Press reported.

In a statement, the chamber said Pakistan's Chamber of Industry offered to hold talks during a virtual meeting held on Sunday, a proposal accepted by the Afghan side to ease trade disruptions. According to the statement, a 12-member delegation from each side is expected to hold talks in Jalalabad next week to discuss practical steps forward.

The chamber said the first phase would enable stranded cargo containers to cross the border, followed by talks on the full reopening of the Torkham crossing.

The Torkham crossing is one of the most key trade routes between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which enables the movement of large volumes of food, fuel, and commercial goods between the two nations.

On Sunday, people held a protest in the Landi Kotal area of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to demand an immediate reopening of the Torkham border, local media reported. Traders, transporters, tribal elders, daily wagers, activists of political parties and civil society were part of the protest held under the banner of the All Borders Coordinators Council.

Representatives from various organisations and groups, who were directly impacted by the border shutdown with Afghanistan since October 12, participated in the protest, the Dawn reported.

While addressing the protesters, the speakers said that the border closure has caused economic murder of thousands of people, the majority of them being tribesmen, as they were fully reliant on the cross-border trade.

They called the Torkham border an important business gateway to Central Asia and said that the border crossing served as an economic hub for thousands of families, as their livelihoods were linked to it.

According to them, all commercial activities have stopped in the town due to the border closure.

The speakers said that hundreds of families faced extreme poverty and economic problems due to border closure, with many of them forced to take loans for their survival.

They urged Afghanistan and Pakistan not to link bilateral trade to political and security issues and to allow people to travel frequently on both sides of the border.

"We also demand that influential tribal elders and trade representatives shall be made part of future Pak-Afghan peace and trade dialogue as they have always helped resolve thorny issues between the two countries in the past," they said.

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