Chaman-Boldak border to reopen today: envoy

Ambassador Ahmed says move will ensure facilitative movement of people, transit vehicles

Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmed Khan on Monday said that an agreement had been reached with the neighbouring country’s authorities to reopen the Chaman-Spin Boldak gate from Tuesday (today), nearly a month after the border crossing was closed by the Taliban.

Taking to Twitter, the envoy said, “After discussions between [the] border authorities of Pakistan & Afghanistan, [the] friendship gate at Chaman-Boldak crossing point will open from tomorrow morning & two sides will ensure facilitative movement of people & trade/transit vehicles.”

Ahmed said that he had recently called on Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and discussed the need for opening the Chaman-Boldak crossing at the earliest, especially to facilitate trade as it was the fruit harvest season in Afghanistan.

“We also had discussions about following up on the recent visit of the foreign minister to Kabul, which were extremely productive. We remain closely engaged with Afghan authorities for facilitating the movement of people at all border crossings,” he added.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi had visited the Afghan capital Kabul on Oct 21 for the first time since the

Taliban victory in August, following weeks of tension over transport links between the neighbouring countries.

The visit came after prolonged problems at the Chaman border crossing, one of the main trade transit points between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which had been closed for more than two weeks, causing severe problems for truckers and exporters.

Qureshi said Pakistan was determined to help Afghanistan avoid a collapse of its economy and had agreed measures to ease some border restrictions and facilitate trade, including on-arrival visas for Afghan business travellers.

"We have taken steps that will benefit Afghanistan financially," he told reporters.

Imports of fresh fruit and vegetables from Afghanistan would also be allowed duty free, Qureshi said, in a move aimed at helping Afghan fruit producers hurt by the border closures.

The Taliban had closed the key crossing on Oct 5, claiming: “Traders, patients, and passengers are facing difficulties.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan border authorities maintained that the Taliban officials had not officially informed them about the reason for closing the border.