ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is considering a new visa policy for Afghan nationals, the prime minister’s special representative for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq, said on Sunday.
The Pakistani-Afghan border was sealed in mid-March as part of containment measures against the COVID-19 outbreak. While in the past few weeks, the main checkpoints on the borderline have been reopened to facilitate trade, travel remains limited. Thousands of people used to cross into Pakistan every day, including students, people who had their relatives on the other side of the border, and those who came to Pakistani hospitals for medical treatment.
“Current travel limitations due to Corona SOPs are to be reviewed soon as the situation is improving. In the meantime, a new visa policy to facilitate travel to Pakistan is under consideration on fast track,” Sadiq said in a Twitter post on Sunday.
In a separate tweet, he announced that shipments for Afghan transit trade started at the Gwadar Port in Balochistan on Sunday.
“The first transit consignment of bulk cargo through Gwadar to Afghanistan started today. Several consignments are lined up for coming days. We have crossed another milestone toward establishing our credentials as a transit country.”
In recent weeks, Pakistan has taken steps to enhance bilateral trade with Afghanistan and to facilitate the neighbor’s transit trade. All main border crossings — at Chaman in Balochistan, and Torkham, Ghulam Khan, Angoor Adda and Kharlachi in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — have been reopened and Afghan overland exports to India through Pakistan’s Wagah border resumed on July 15.
