Pakistan, Afghanistan ink trade agreements amid border tensions

KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistan and Afghanistan have inked several trade agreements amid heightened border tensions between the two countries.

The agreements were inked after two-day talks between the visiting Pakistani delegation led by Commerce Secretary Khurram Agha and Afghanistan’s interim Commerce and Industry Minister Nooruddin Azizi in Kabul this week, said Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the interim Afghan government.

The talks came on the heels of simmering diplomatic tensions between the two neighbors as Islamabad accuses Kabul of not doing enough against "Afghanistan-based" militants who have been involved in the latest spate of terrorism in Pakistan. Kabul denies the charge.

Both sides resolved to "keep trade away from politics", and continue "uninterrupted "trade activities, Mujahid said.

The two sides also agreed to finalize the long-pending Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) within the next two months, he added.

APTTA is a bilateral trade agreement signed in 2010 by Pakistan and Afghanistan that calls for greater facilitation in the movement of goods between the two countries.

The two sides agreed to allow the cross-border movement of cargo trucks on temporary permits for a year as a trial period from May this year, the Afghan government spokesman said.

An agreement for the transportation of trade goods by air in the form of "multi-model air transit" will be implemented within the next two months, Mujahid said.

It was also agreed that Islamabad’s condition for submission of a mandatory bank guarantee within a week for Afghan transit goods will be revoked, he added.

Pakistan has expressed its willingness to procure coal from Afghanistan at international market price, according to Mujahid.

Frequent border closures amid a terrorism-related blame game have taken a toll on the already small trade volume between the two sides.

Pakistan is among Afghanistan’s largest trading partners with bilateral trade between the two neighbors reaching $1.86 billion in the fiscal year 2023.