Pak-Afghan Border Trade Back to Normal After Pakistan Halts New Visa Rule For 2 More Weeks

Border trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan resumed on Wednesday after Islamabad repealed a new visa restriction for two more weeks. The movement of goods stopped earlier this week when Pakistan started demanding commercial vehicle drivers to carry passports and visas in order to enter. The Afghan government replied by refusing to allow any trucks to cross, AFP reported on Wednesday. Commerce Ministry officials met with representatives of the Afghan government last night and agreed to give their drivers another two-week extension. Notably, this is the second time that Pakistan has postponed the implementation of the new visa rule. “Afghan and Pakistani officials met… … it was told that this situation will be permanently resolved,” the governor’s media office in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province verified on X. Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have remained shaky since October when Pakistan ordered illegal Afghan migrants to leave the country. Around 340,000 Afghans have been deported or voluntarily returned since then. More importantly, Pakistan has announced that only Afghans with passports and visas will be permitted to enter the country, putting an end to a decades-long practice of allowing people to travel with only their national identity cards. It is noteworthy that Afghanistan relies on Pakistan for imports, including both locally produced commodities and foreign items acquired via Karachi Port.