KHAPLU: Pakistan and China will be resuming travel and trade activities through a key border point in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan region that connects with China’s Xinjiang after a gap of more than three years, Pakistani officials said, hoping to accelerate trade between the two nations.
At 5,000 meters above sea level, the Khunjerab Pass is the highest paved international crossing in the world, a major trade route between China and Pakistan, and an important gateway to South Asia and Europe for Chinese imports and exports.
Under an agreement, trade activities between the two countries through the Khunjerab Pass continue from April till November. The first trade activity between China and Pakistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) began via the Karakoram Highway, which passes through Khunjerab, in November 2016.
The key border point was closed in 2019 to contain the spread of coronavirus, but authorities on both sides of the border last week decided to reopen it for all kinds of traffic on April 3, according to Gilgit-Baltistan Home Secretary Rana Muhammad Saleem Afzal.
“Reopening of Khunjrab Pass is critical to accelerating trade between Pakistan and China,” Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Twitter late Sunday.
“The government is determined to unpack the full potential of CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) by making it the centerpiece of our economic diplomacy for the region. Trade & connectivity are the building blocks of prosperity.”
China and Pakistan are historic allies that enjoy cooperation in several sectors, including defense, military and trade, in part due to their border disputes with India. Beijing has also invested heavily in the $65 billion CPEC project that seeks to connect China to Pakistani ports through a vast network of roads, railways and pipelines.
The prolonged closure of Khunjerab Pass caused immense financial losses to the local business community and triggered layoffs. The key border point was occasionally opened during the last three years for emergency cargo transportation from China to Pakistan.
Pakistan, a country of 220 million, has been embroiled in an economic crisis, with its currency at a historic low level, forex reserves barely enough to cover a month of imports and inflation at a 50-year high.
The resumption of trade with China is expected to bring some respite to the cash-strapped South Asian nation.
