Pakistan and Afghanistan have reopened Chaman-Spin Boldak border crossing point today to facilitate visitors and trade of goods.
The border point was closed by the Taliban government a month ago when they claimed that their traders, patients, and passengers were facing difficulties in crossing the border. Today the border was reopened after Pakistan and Afghanistan signed an agreement a day earlier.
Qari Mohammad Aslam, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl leader, who participated in the meeting, said that citizens of Qila Abdullah and Chaman in Pakistan and Kandahar in Afghanistan would be able to cross the border on the basis of their identity cards.
Afghan patients would also be allowed entry into Pakistan, he shared. Former president of Chaman Chamber of Commerce Jalat Khan Achakzai said the border crossing would remain open for trade throughout the day while pedestrians would be able to cross between 7am and 5pm.
A customs official posted at the border said the Afghan authorities have removed cement blocks that were placed in front of the gates.
The envoy said he had recently called on Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and, among other issues, discussed the need for opening the Boldak-Chaman crossing at the earliest, ensuring the facilitation of cross-border movement of people and trade vehicles on both sides, especially because it was the fruit harvest season in Afghanistan.
“We also had discussions about following up on the recent visit of the foreign minister of Pakistan to Kabul, which was extremely productive. We remain closely engaged with Afghan authorities for facilitating the movement of people at all border crossings,” he said.
Similarly, imports and exports via Chaman-Spin Boldak should continue without any hurdles as officials of both sides agreed that there should be no problem in the transit trade.
The Taliban had closed the key crossing along the frontier with Afghanistan in Balochistan on October 5, claiming that “traders, patients and passengers were facing difficulties at the border”, but Pakistan was unwilling to resolve problems despite their efforts.
Pakistani border authorities, meanwhile, maintained that the Taliban officials had not officially informed them about the reason for closing the border at Chaman.
Another report on the matter stated that the Taliban were demanding that people from Afghanistan should be allowed to cross into Pakistan by showing their Afghan identity cards instead of being asked to show other travel documents.
