Pakistani envoy vows to resolve Afghan traders’ problems

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): The Pakistani envoy in Kabul during a meeting with traders in eastern Nangarhar province has stressed that problems facing businesspeople on Torkham and other routes should be resolved.

Mansoor Ahmad Khan said that four decades of conflicts in Afghanistan had damaged trade and other relations between Kabul and Islamabad.

He made the remarks while meeting officials of Chamber of Commerce and Investment and traders in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, late on Sunday.

Local residents and traders at the meeting asked for facilities on Torkham route with Pakistan and transit area.

Gulmurad Arab, head of Chamber of Commerce and Investment of Nangarhar, talked about Afghan traders problems on Torkham route and said that Afghan traders were extorted under the excuse of ‘demurrage’ and criticized Pakistan for not implementing APTA agreement.

“In the past, 1,000 or 1,200 commercial trucks would cross Torkham port a day, but now the number has dropped to 500, which is a serious problem,” he said.

Dr. Mukhlis, a trader, also said that the APTA agreement was not implemented properly and that there were many problems facing Afghan traders in Pakistan.

“On the other side of Torkham, (FC) men searching commercial trucks in violation of the APTA agreement, they take a lot of money from Afghan traders under the name of (demurrage), there are many other problems that have affected our commerce,” he said.

Tribal elders and locals also asked the Pakistani ambassador to prove that Pakistan was a good neighbor of Afghanistan and solve all problems faced by locals and businessmen while visiting Pakistan.

Tribal elder NajibullahSahibzada asked Pakistan to allow residents of Nangarhar province to travel through Torkham with their national identity cards.

Meanwhile, MulaviFazlullahHadi Ahmad, foreign affairs director in Nangarhar, said that Islamic Emirate wanted good relations with Pakistan and hoped the Pakistani authorities would provide more facilities for traders and travelers.

Pakistan’s ambassador Mansoor Ahmad Khan said that decades of war in Afghanistan had damaged not only trade relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan but also many other relations which would be re-established and all problems would be addressed.

“Apart from Afghanistan, Pakistan has also suffered in the last 50 years of war. We have to solve our own problems and difficulties,” he said.

Khan also promised to launch Pak-Afghan friendly buses from Nangarhar province in the near future as well asambulance service to transfer patients to Peshawar.

mds/ma

Views: 149