DLP REPORT
ISLAMABAD
Pakistan on Monday announced to resume Afghan exports to India through the Wagah border crossing from July 15.
“At the special request of the Government of Afghanistan and to facilitate Afghanistan’s transit trade, Pakistan has decided to resume Afghan exports through Wagah border crossing from July 15 2020, after implementing Covid-19 related protocols,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.
With this step, the FO said, Pakistan has fulfilled its commitments under Pakistan-Afghanistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA), a 2010 bilateral trade agreement, which provides Afghan traders access to eastern Wagah border with India, where Afghan goods are offloaded onto Indian trucks.
Pakistan, the statement further said, restored bilateral trade and Afghan transit trade at all border crossing terminals to pre-Covid-19 status.
Pakistan had closed all its borders with neighboring countries in March this year in a bid to stem the raging coronavirus crisis.
Last month, Islamabad had reopened its three key trade routes — southwestern Chaman and northwestern Torkham, and Ghulam Khan border crossings — for transit trade and exports to Afghanistan.
“Pakistan remains fully committed to further strengthening its bilateral relations with Afghanistan in all areas including trade, and to facilitate Afghanistan’s transit trade under APTTA,” the statement added.
Pakistan and Afghanistan share 18 crossing points. The most commonly used ones are Torkham and Chaman.
Relations between the two neighbors have been strained in recent years as both sides accused each other of supporting and providing sanctuaries to militants.
