Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has put in the spotlight the trade through the Torkham border. CRSS explores steps to streamline the process.
Just two days ago, the Afghan Taliban regained control of Afghanistan after 20 years. The Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has fled the country with some of his acquaintances. The Taliban took over the presidential palace without any bloodshed or unrest and have gained strong control of the whole country. Pakistan is Afghanistan’s closest neighbor and business partner, not only facilitating transit trade activities via Afghanistan, but also valuing ​​bilateral trade with Afghanistan. Keeping in mind the significance of this border movement and trade, CRSS team visited the most famous, busy, and important border crossing area between Afghanistan and Pakistan i.e., Torkham, on August 18,2021 and engaged in a meaningful conversation with the representatives of the Khyber Chamber of Commerce, Transport Association, Customs Clearing Agents, association drivers, market union officials and senior journalists. Below is the summary of these conversations and questions and answers.
Taliban Takeover And The Swift Change At Torkham
Customs Clearing Agents and Transport Association officials agreed that although a formal Taliban government has not yet been established in Afghanistan, despite them having taken control of the border areas, including the presidential palace. But the Taliban’s desire to keep the trade going and keeping the country afloat can be gauged from the fact that within few hours of the former Afghan government’s border staff fleeing, and Taliban representatives taking over the border crossing points, the movement and transport of trade goods across the border was restored. Taliban’s efforts to boost the trade process and to remove the stringent bureaucratic border hindrances can be observed from the fact that after the Taliban takeover, the border staff allowed less than a hundred food and vegetable trucks towards Pakistan and less than two hundred in Afghanistan. However, as soon as the Taliban took control of the border security, they allowed 270 stranded Afghan trade vehicles into Pakistan. Moreover, they allowed all Pakistani trucks to enter Afghanistan alongside the permission letters to travel across Afghanistan without paying any further charges or getting a new permission letter. However, previously the trade vehicles required several different permission letters at different points and had to pay large sums of money other than the regular taxes.
According to these officials, the protocols adopted for COVID-19 were immediately regulated which only allowed Pakistani and Afghan citizens to travel back to their native countries, otherwise travel through visas is banned for the time being. During our visit to Torkham, we witnessed that due to travel restrictions, the markets were almost empty. However, hundreds of Afghans were seen going back to Afghanistan, whereas the number of Afghans coming to Pakistan was low. The border security was high alert because since the last three days, border officials’ meetings and conferences are being held in which higher officials from both countries participate. The officials from these associations accused Ashraf Ghani of hindering Afghanistan’s trade with Pakistan by imposing higher taxes on Pakistani goods as compared to goods from Iran and other countries. Moreover, the members were optimistic that the bilateral trade will flourish under the Taliban government. Moreover, the custom clearing association’s officials also demanded Pakistan to remove the hindrances caused by border forces like the physical examination of vehicles despite checking them through a scanner, increasing time and cost inefficiency. Local drivers also expressed satisfaction over the new border arrangements and management.
Taliban Takeover: Afghan Traders Want Swift Clearance Of Trucks
Khyber Chamber of Commerce suggested that since different border departments do not acknowledge each other’s checking and scanning, the government should ensure that the trade vehicle must be examined at a single point by all departments, where they can issue border pass after the examination. Currently, there is only one scanner, resulting in long queues. Establishment of an international standard terminal will be completed in almost two years, therefore, in the meantime number of scanners should be increased and the physical observation of vehicles after scanning should be prohibited. The vice president of Landi Kotal Market union was optimistic that if an inclusive Taliban led government is formed, cross border movement will once again be facilitated, and local employment will be promoted.
Landi Kotal press club’s current president Aamir Shinwari and former president Akmal Qari while speaking to CRSS said that there is a huge difference between the Taliban of 1996 and that of now, the first time they were so harsh that they scared most of the people. But this time, they abandoned violence and use of force to take over Kabul and also offered amnesty along with encouraging females and other marginalized communities to continue doing their jobs, which has created a positive impact amongst various segments of the society. The women have resumed their official duties freely.
The Hope After The Exit Of A Hostile Power
These senior journalists stated that due to the presence of anti-Pakistan forces like India and US in Afghanistan trying to destabilize Pakistan with the support of Afghan government, Pakistan remained prudent in the past whilst managing border movement. But the situation is different now and it is anticipated that Pak-Afghan trade and people-to-people interactions will be facilitated and increased in the future.
Courtesy: CRSS
