Afghanistan and Pakistan have not agreed on the resumption of operation of the Torkham checkpoint on the joint border, TASS reports citing The Express Tribune. Moreover, this checkpoint is one of the main transit routes to Pakistani ports for Asian countries that do not have access to the sea, including Uzbekistan.
“The status quo remains. There is no progress in negotiations yet. In fact, the two sides are no longer negotiating at this time. They were interrupted after several rounds of consultations ended without results ,” The Express Tribune quoted official sources as saying.
At the same time, representatives of the Pakistani side claim that “the position of the Afghan authorities is surprising . ” “Representatives of Kabul blamed Pakistan for the shootout at the Torkham checkpoint , which led to its closure. We consider such allegations to be unfounded,” the publication’s interlocutors emphasize.
Let us remind you: the Torkham checkpoint has remained closed since September 6 , after a long firefight broke out between the border guards of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
According to reports, it occurred due to the fact that the Pakistani Border Guard tried to prevent the construction of a new Afghan border post and the renovation of the old one, since, in accordance with a bilateral agreement, any construction work is prohibited within a 100-meter zone from the checkpoint .
There is currently no military action on the border, but access for passenger and cargo transport to the Torkham checkpoint is prohibited .
As a result, more than 1 thousand trucks , including those with perishable products, accumulated at the entrance to the border . At the same time, cargo handling for Afghanistan was suspended in the Pakistani port of Karachi .
In recent days, Pakistan’s losses alone due to the closure of the checkpoint have grown to 360 million rupees (about $1.2 million) . The value of Pakistani goods that were not delivered to Afghanistan during this period reaches $ 14.4 million .
At the same time, the Torkham automobile checkpoint is one of the main transit routes for Asian countries that do not have access to the sea and therefore use Pakistani ports for the delivery of goods.
Source: trans