Reopen Pak-Afghan highway, Islamabad asked

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Business leaders from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have called for the immediate reopening of the Pak-Afghan highway.

The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) chief asked the federal government to reopen the key route, which has been blocked for months.

Protesting Kukikhel tribesmen have pledged to keep the road closed as long as displaced people were not allowed to return to their areas.

In a statement, SCCI President Fazal Moqeem Khan noted with concern trade had been paralysed by the closure of Pak-Afghan Highway.

The Pak-Afghan bilateral trade volume and transit trade had dropped to an alarming level due to the closure of the route, he lamented.

Consequently, the SCCI president said, businesses had been shifted from Pakistan to Iran and Central Asian republics.

He warned the bilateral trade would come to a grinding halt if the federal government did not act promptly to normalise the situation.

“It will not only be detrimental to the national economy but will also trigger unemployment due to the closure of business and trade,” commented Muqeem.

Businessman Zahidullah Shinwari also complained the Pak-Afghan bilateral trade volume had dipped to a new low.

He said trade between the neighbours had almost ended in the wake of the closure of the route for the last several months.

The businessman said local people and passengers were facing hardships due to the Pak-Afghan Highway blockade.

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