PESHAWAR: Trade came to a standstill at the Torkham border crossing in Khyber on Saturday following the stringent enforcement of passport requirements for Afghans entering Pakistan.
The strict implementation of passport requirements for Afghan cargo vehicle drivers at the Torkham border resulted in the suspension of commercial activities. Customs officials noted that vehicles without drivers possessing passports were denied entry into Pakistan, leading to a backlog of hundreds of cargo vehicles from Afghanistan.
In response, Afghan authorities blocked Pakistani vehicles carrying commercial goods from entering Afghanistan, and they demanded an exemption for Afghan drivers from the passport visa requirement.
This development follows the federal government’s imposition of a visa requirement for cargo vehicle drivers from Afghanistan last year. Due to challenges in obtaining visas for Afghan drivers, the requirement was later revised to include only a valid passport.
The implementation of this passport condition began recently, causing disruptions in trade activities on both sides of the Torkham border crossing. Pakistan has announced that Afghans will no longer be allowed to enter without valid passports and visas, discontinuing the practice of using only national identity cards or driver’s licenses for entry.
The tightening of trade rules has also impacted containers bound for Afghanistan at Karachi port, as authorities are now demanding higher tax and duty payments. The Pakistani government argues that it loses millions of dollars in taxes due to duty-free goods being sent from its ports to land-locked Afghanistan, only to be smuggled back across the border. Afghan authorities contend that the hold-up has resulted in significant financial losses for their traders.
