The Khunjerab linkage

The formal reopening of Khunjerab pass after a hiatus of almost three years, due to pandemic concerns, is a good omen. Land-route trade between China and Pakistan has been a distinguishable feature of their all-weather relationship for decades, since the marvel of the Karakoram Highway, also known as N-35, was completed in 1978. It not only re-invented the ancient Silk Route but connected the north of the world with Europe and the Middle East, instantly boosting Pakistan’s geostrategic location as the fulcrum for trade and commerce. Though the route is accessible only from April to November, as it is a theatre of snow-capped glaciers, the fact that trade had been buoying and at the moment sits at around $1000 million comes as a cherishing factor for the locals on both sides of the divide. Last but not least, with the setting in of CPEC, this route has gained immense importance and leads from the front in furthering the concept of geo-economics linking five continents and more than 100 states.

What is desired is normalising the trade regime at these frontiers, and enabling local entrepreneurs and business to participate in it without hindrance. The region of Gilgit-Baltistan will be a major beneficiary in terms of employment opportunities, and at the same time put to rest sentiments of revulsion. Cargo import and export through the strategic Khunjerab is estimated at over 90,000 tonnes, and is likely to grow if Afghanistan attains serenity, and the Indo-Pak animosity is laid to rest.

The Khunjerab Pass, which links Gilgit-Baltistan with China’s north-western Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions at 5,000 metres above sea level, is one of the biggest avenues of tourism too, and it goes without saying that its potential has not been tapped to this day. Moreover, the visa regime between China and Pakistan is in need of being revisited, and the plethora of paperwork eliminated to boost genuine people-to-people cooperation. Similarly, there is room for expanding the commodities list that could be traded across this gateway, and setting up of an economic free zone at the roof of the world.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th, 2023.

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