By Farid Shinwari
After over a century, Pakistan’s historically strategic Torkham border to Afghanistan will start functioning round the clock from early August 2019. Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced this big step to facilitate the cross border movement of people and cargo vehicles.
The move will help increase trade activities on both sides of the border. Asma Paracha, a Pakistan Customs official in Peshawar said that the department will work three shifts from now on.
Furthermore, Clearance of the vehicles will speed up after commencement of this policy. She further said that the Customs department has demanded from the government to provide two hundred officials in addition to scanners, lighting arrangement, walk-through gates and CCTV cameras.
According to the President of Khyber Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Sadiq Afridi, Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan, currently at 1.5 billion dollars, will increase manifold with the 24/7 opening of this key crossing point.
“Exports from Afghanistan will be multiplied. Our business community has highlighted that staff officials should be increased and I am sure that the current trade will be doubled soon,” he said.
Furthermore, Customs officials have reported that up to 400 vehicles cross the border to Afghanistan every day, while almost 250 vehicles enter Pakistan. With the opening of the Torkham border round the clock, many problems related to their movement will be resolved, according to the president of Torkham Transport Union, Azeem Ullah.
“If the gate remains open for twenty-four hours, we will not face any traffic congestion. As a result, every transport vehicle will reach its destination on time and food items will also remain fresh upon their delivery. Problems of transport will thus be minimized and if officials do their duty well, then we will have greater ease of doing business” he explained.
The district administration in Khyber – a newly merged district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – about 10,000 people cross the border each day and this number is anticipated to increase with the new policy. He said that additional National Data Registration Authority (NADRA), Customs and aligned department officials have arrived and will be operating in Torkham round the clock to facilitate travellers.
Sher Asghar – a driver belonging to the Achen district of the eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan – welcomed the move. “We used to wait at Torkham for several hours. Now, it seems, we will be able to pass through to Afghanistan without having to stay at Torkham,” he told MATRIX MAG.
“Great facilitation will come to us. Last night, the gate closed at 8 pm and we had to stay for another day here. It will ease and benefit us. Moreover, the money asked of us by Khasadars (paramilitary force for erstwhile FATA) will also decrease,” he added.
Pakistani officials at the border said the number of security forces in the area, including the police, have also been beefed up and will hopefully be sufficient for the smooth facilitation of border management. Officials further added that there are seven platoons of police where each platoon has up to forty officials. Further progress is underway which will minimize many problems thus far faced for travellers.
Gul Rehan, an Afghan citizen, brings his son to Pakistan for hospital treatment each week. He routinely faces hurdles while crossing the border and demanded the ease of his movement and many others like him.
“My son is very ill and I have to visit Pakistan every week. We do not have passports but sometimes we are allowed without our passports. We need the opening of this gate for twenty-four hours. This will facilitate all patients, among other people.”
Saddam Hussein – a research fellow at the Afghan Studies Center, a think tank based in Islamabad – hoped that this major confidence-building measure by the Government of Pakistan will help in further strengthening of the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. He further hoped that it will pave the way for comprehensive engagements in all the domains; bilateral trade in particular.
(Under an arrangement between MATRIX MAG and the Afghan Studies Center, Islamabad)
