Copyright pajhwok
KABUL (Pajhwok): Afghan and Pakistani traders daily incur one million dollars losses due to the closure of border crossings, says Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Chamber of Commerce president Khan Jan Alokozai. About two weeks ago, Pakistani carried out airstrikes on a bazaar in Barmal district of Paktika province and also violated Kabul’s airspace. In response, the Islamic Emirate forces launched retaliatory attacks on Pakistani military posts, after which Pakistan closed trade routes with Afghanistan. Alokozai told Pajhwok Afghan News that the closure of the routes directly caused one million dollars loss to Afghan and Pakistani traders. He added about 2,000 vehicles used to travel through the Torkham, Dandi Patan, Angoor Adda, Ghulam Khan and Spin Boldak routes daily, but all these routes have been closed for the past two weeks. He said that on the first day of the road closure, 2,000 vehicles were stopped. Of these vehicles, 500 were loaded with vegetables and fruits, which got damaged, causing millions of dollars in losses to Afghan and Pakistani traders. “This issue is political and military and has nothing to do with bilateral trade. We, the Chamber of Commerce, are a private sector, not governments and do not represent governments. We represent traders, we are trying our best and we are talking to Pakistani traders and they are also trying in Karachi and Islamabad to solve this problem.” He said that in his opinion, the fate of these roads will not be known until the second round of talks in Turkey. Similarly, Afghan Defense Minister Maulvi Mohammad Yaqoob had said in an online meeting with reporters from Doha a few days ago about the agreement between Afghanistan and Pakistan that the second round of talks between the two countries will be held in Turkey on October 25. This comes at a time when a number of traders also said that the Ghulam Khan road in Khost had been closed to trade by Pakistan and that trucks were not allowed to pass through, causing them millions of afghanis losses on a daily basis.
