After Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani alleged that Pakistan’s Wagah port has been closed for Afghan traders, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria in a statement said that it has not stopped them from moving their products to India through the border.
He has said that Pakistan is fulfilling its commitments to the Afghanistan by providing its people trade transit facility. He said that that under Islamabad’s bilateral agreement with Kabul, only Indian goods could not be imported into Afghanistan through Pakistan. His remarks were in response to the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani who recently threatened to block Pakistan’s land access to Central Asia if it did not allow Afghan traders to take their goods to India via Wagah.
Ghani in a meeting with the UK’s special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Owen Jenkins, in Kabul on Friday said that if Pakistan would not allow traders of Afghanistan to use Wagha border for imports and exports of their goods then Afghanistan secures the right to not allow Pakistan to use Afghan transit routes to reach Central Asia and other countries for exports. He said that Afghanistan is looking forward to enhance economic ties in the region, Pakistan and other regional countries to remove all technical problems that create obstacles in economic cooperation.
With the construction of Chabahar port in Iran, the reliance of Afghanistan on Pakistan would decrease, and Pakistan would have to cautiously act under these circumstances. It is a tricky situation and best way forward for both the countries is to come on negotiation table to settle the issues. In recent times tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan has increased on number of issues.
Best way forward for both the countries is to come on negotiation table to settle the issues.
