Pak-Afghan trade talks open today

Pakistan and Afghanistan will hold crucial trade talks in Kabul on Monday (today), Foreign Office said in a statement on Sunday, days after Pakistani air strikes inside the neighbouring country targeting the terrorist hideouts.

A terse statement, issued here by the Foreign Office, said that Commerce Secretary Khurrum Agha would undertake a two-day visit to Afghanistan on Monday to discuss trade related matters. “Pakistan remains committed to promoting trade and people-to-people ties with Afghanistan,” it added.

The bilateral talks are taking place at the time of heightened tensions between the two neighbours. The deterioration of the ties has undermined bilateral trade in recent months. Besides, frequent border closures for a variety of reasons also negatively impacted the trade.

Read more: We don’t want armed conflict with Afghanistan: Asif

Pakistan, being not happy with the Taliban government for its reluctance to act against the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliates, took a series of measures in October last year to end the misuse of Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) facility.

These measures included the addition of certain items to the negative list, the implementation of 100% bank guarantees, and other regulatory actions. Afghan authorities contend that Pakistan's actions led to a 50% reduction in trade through its borders, with a notable shift towards Iran.

Pakistan justified these steps as necessary to prevent the misuse of the ATT facility, citing a significant surge in Afghan imports through transit trade during the 2022-23 period. Furthermore, some items with limited demand in Afghanistan witnessed an unprecedented influx.

Also read: Pakistan’s airstrikes in Afghanistan — the aftermath

Authorities in Pakistan pointed out that the transit trade mechanism was being exploited for smuggling goods intended for Afghanistan back into Pakistan. These measures aimed to address this issue and ensure the proper functioning of the transit trade system while curbing illegal activities.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been tense for months over the TTP issue. On March 18, Pakistan conducted intelligence-based anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan. The strikes were in retaliation to March 16 Mir Ali terrorist attack that killed seven soldiers, including two officers.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif in a recent interview warned of blocking the trade corridor that Afghanistan is using to export goods to India via Pakistan if cross-border terrorist attacks do not stop. Kabul insists that trade and commercial ties must not be linked with the political relationship.