Afghanistan, China can enhance trade via Wakhan Corridor: Azizi

KABUL (Pajhwok): Commerce Minister Nooruddin Azizi has said Afghanistan and China could increase bilateral trade through the Wakhan Corridor.

In a video published on the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s twitter page, Azizi said the Wakhan Corridor (the historic Silk Road) was a reliable transit route for trade and goods.

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has declared its readiness to open this corridor and wants the Republic of China to accelerate this process.”

Wakhan is a mountainous district in northeastern Badakhshan province. The valley is located in the heart of Central Asia surrounded by Pamir mountains in the north, Karakoram in the south and the Hindu Kush mountains in the west.

A narrow strip of territory in Afghanistan, the valley extends to China and separates the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan from the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. From this high mountain valley the Panj and Pamir rivers emerge and form the Amu Darya.

Wakhan is a landlocked area between Pakistan and Tajikistan. According to Google Maps, the largest area of ​​these countries related to Afghanistan is about 66 km and the smallest area is about 16 km.

Azizi’s statement comes as some sources say Pakistan is trying to impose a long-term transit deal in Wakhan region on Afghanistan thus incumbent Afghan government should pay serious attention to the matter because passive political approach in such matters would have grave consequences.

Former president Hamid Karzai’s chief of staff Abdul Karim Khurram’s tweet on Pakistan’s intention regarding the imposition of a new Wakhan Corridor policy had triggered a heated debate.

On July 22, Khurram wrote on his Twitter handle that Pakistan had renewed its demand for the construction of a transit road via Wakhan for trade with Tajikistan.

Some sources urged the government to pay serious attention to Wakhan corridor because passive politics in this regard may inflict short- and long-term losses on Afghanistan.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the interim government, reacting to such statements, had said: “No discussion has taken place on the issue. There will be no compromise even on an inch of Afghanistan’s territory”

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