PESHAWAR: The Afghan officials have protested against the efforts to seal the Torkham Gate saying Pakistan has used shrine’s attack as a pretext to pressure Afghanistan economically.
Omar Zakhilwal, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan, has said earlier that if border did not open soon, his government would be forced to airlift its stranded citizens which could lead to further badness of relations between neighbouring countries.
The Pak-Afghan Chamber of Commerce estimated that traders from both countries were losing about $4million a day because of the border closure.
Pakistani traders are bearing about 80 percent of those losses because during the winter Pakistani exports of fruit and vegetables to Afghanistan increase.
The official Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industries said thousands of trucks on both sides of the border had remained stranded, and the businessmen are urged to find other routes to transport their goods.
In September 2005, Pakistan stated it had plans to build a 1,500-mile (2,400 km) fence along its border with Afghanistan to prevent insurgents and drug smugglers slipping between the two countries.
Imran Khan, Chairman Pakistan Tehrik Insaaf (PTI) and opposition leader in the national assembly, said previous day that Torkham Gate’s closure was “building into a humanitarian crisis.”
He called upon both governments to resolve the crisis so that “those with valid travel documents and perishable goods” could cross the border. The long border is porous, and Pakistan has to not focus only on the formal crossing points, he said.
Long ago a biometric system was installed by Pakistan on border crossings. Afghanistan had objected to the system. The biometric system remains intact on the border, although it is yet to be made fully functional, he added.
The Pakistani plans for mining and fencing the border were renewed in 2006 but these plans were opposed by the Afghan government citing that the fencing would result in “the limitation of the freedom of movement of Pakhtun tribal people”, he said.
Zakhilwal, the Afghan ambassador, further said some leaders of attacks on Pakistan might be in Afghanistan but they mostly operate in areas controlled by the Afghan Taliban.
Abdul Wassih, a shopkeeper at Kabul’s vegetable market, said on phone that a crate of oranges, that used to be $4, has now increased to $12. A box of bananas, which used to be about $12, is now about $25.
