ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will restore the Wagah border crossing with India from today, Wednesday, to allow Afghan exports to pass through, a move announced by the Pakistan foreign office earlier this week and welcomed by the US State department.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday it would open the border crossing on July 15 in fulfilment of its commitments under the Pakistan-Afghanistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA).
“We welcome Pakistan’s announced reopening of Angoor Adda, Kharlachi, and Wagah border crossings for Afghan trade,” the State Department’s official Twitter account for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs said. “This grows livelihoods & prosperity in both countries. Facilitating Afghan exports strengthens its economy as it rebounds from COVID-19 trade disruptions.”
Islamabad has restored trade operations with Afghanistan at five border terminals - Chaman, Torkham, Ghulam Khan, Angor Adda and Kharlachi - in recent weeks after closing them in mid-March to limit the spread of the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19.
The Wagah border is located near Lahore, the capital of the Punjab province, and is one of the major crossings between India and Pakistan.
APTTA was signed in 2010, allowing landlocked Afghanistan to trade with India through Wagah. The agreement permits Afghanistan trucks access to the Wagah border with India, where Afghan goods are offloaded onto Indian trucks, but does not permit Indian goods to be loaded onto trucks for transit back to Afghanistan.
The APTTA agreement also allows Afghan trucks to transport exports to India via Pakistan up to the Wagah crossing point, but does not offer Afghanistan the right to import Indian goods across Pakistani territory. Instead, Afghan trucks offloaded at Wagah may return to Afghanistan loaded only with Pakistani, rather than Indian goods, in an attempt to prevent the formation of a black market for Indian goods in Pakistan.
“I think the past routine will continue as it was not mentioned in today’s [foreign office] statement that Pakistan will allow Afghan trucks to enter into India,” Co-Chairman of the Pakistan Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Zubair Motiwala, said, adding that the decision to reopen the crossing on July 15 was a “welcoming and timely” announcement for Afghan traders and the most cost effective.
Pakistan to resume Afghan exports to India through Wagah border today
https://arab.news/57m7s
Pakistan to resume Afghan exports to India through Wagah border today
- The move will grow livelihoods and prosperity in both countries, US state department says
- In recent week Islamabad has restored trade operations with Afghanistan at five border terminals
Fears of fuel shortage in Pakistan as tankers wait to fill up
- US-Israeli war with Iran has disrupted shipping, damaged oil and gas facilities in Middle East
- Pakistan, which depends on oil and gas from the Gulf, raised fuel prices by 20 percent last week
Sheikhupura, Pakistan: Tanker drivers in Pakistan said they were facing long waits at depots due to a shortage of fuel, as the government played down fears of another rise in prices.
The US-Israeli war with Iran has disrupted shipping and damaged oil and gas facilities in the Middle East, raising global oil prices as countries scramble to deal with concerns over supply.
Dozens of tankers, which supply fuel across Pakistan, were seen parked at the side of the road on Tuesday at depots near Lahore, the capital of Punjab, the country’s most populous province.
“There is no petrol at the depot for the past four days,” said one tanker driver, Abdul Shakoor.
“Iran has closed the border from their side. The depot is lying empty,” he told AFP.
Pakistan depends on oil and gas from the Gulf, and vessels transporting fuel were given naval escorts this week to ensure continuity of supplies during the Middle East crisis.
Last week, the government in Islamabad hiked prices by about 20 percent, triggering long lines and panic buying at filling stations across the country.
Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said in an interview broadcast late on Tuesday that there will be “no immediate significant changes” in the cost of fuel.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday announced an austerity plan designed to save fuel, including slashing the working week for government employees to four days and shutting schools.
But Mazhar Mahmood, a tanker driver’s assistant, said: “The drivers went to the depot today as well, but the depot staff said there is no fuel available.”
He said he was told that fuel will be available in the next five to six days.
“The situation in the country is not good. There is no petrol in the country, which is why the vehicles are parked here.”
