PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s envoy to Afghanistan Mansoor Khan stated that an agreement had been submitted to the Afghan authorities calling for reopening of the Chaman-Spin Boldak gate from tomorrow onwards. The decision has been taken nearly a month after Taliban closed the border crossing for trade and pedestrians.
“As a result of a meeting between border authorities, Afghanistan and Pakistan have decided to open [the] Chaman-Boldak crossing from tomorrow for pedestrians as well as trade. The two sides will now look forward to ensuring smooth operations of the important border crossing,” Ambassador Khan stated.
The ambassador added that he had called on Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and they had discussed the significance of opening the Boldak-Chaman crossing. The reopening is important in order to facilitate 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 added.
A senior member of the Chaman Chamber of Commerce, Usman Achakzai stated that the decision to reopen the Chaman-Spin Boldak crossing was taken on Monday morning, at a meeting held on the Afghan side of the border.
Achakzai added that the meeting was held in the wake of discussions between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Taliban officials in Kabul last month. He went on to add that the meeting had the members of the Chaman Chamber of Commerce and security officials in attendance, while adding that the Taliban had removed blockades placed on their side of the border.
Similarly, the Taliban government’s deputy spokesman Bilal Karimi also stated 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 stated.
It is pertinent to note that the Taliban had closed border crossing along the frontier with Afghanistan in Balochistan on October 5, claiming that “traders, patients and passengers were facing difficulties [at the border]”, but Pakistan was unwilling to resolve problems despite their efforts.
