Being a landlocked country, Afghanistan is totally dependent on Pakistan for its trade and connectivity with other parts of world. 2670 kilometers long Durand Line separates both the countries. Throughout the history this was a porous border. It was quite easy for the people of both the countries to cross it. But, with the growing incidents of terrorism, Pakistani government started a long project of fencing this border. After the completion of fencing, the authorities kept some entry points for the movement of people and goods under a proper mechanism. Despite fencing, the issues between both the countries at border are still being witnessed.
In a recent move, an unidentified person from Afghanistan side opened direct fire on Pakistani security official at border which resulted in the martyrdom of one and injured 09 others. Earlier, it was said that the firing was opened by the security forces personnel working on Afghanistan side. Later on Taliban government denounced it and said that the person who did this is not belonging to security forces. The CCTV footage of the incident further proved that the person was not the security official.
Following this sad incident, Pakistan closed the entry point. The point remained closed for one week due to which trucks loaded with the goods remained there. Whenever something happens at border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the country which suffers more is Afghanistan. As the border skirmishes cause the closure of the border so the trade of landlocked country disrupts due to which the country faces food shortage. The Taliban took over Afghanistan 15 months ago and have relied mostly on trade with Pakistan to generate much-needed revenues for their cash-strapped new government through increased bilateral and transit trade. The Pakistani government has also removed tariffs and eased visa rules in recent months to facilitate trade activities with the conflict-torn country where the United Nations warns millions of Afghans face acute food shortages. Islamabad has also dramatically increased Afghan coal imports since the Taliban returned to power, tilting the annual trade balance in favor of Kabul for the first time in the history of bilateral trade.
The border issues between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been creating hurdles for both the countries. The recent incident is very sad as it has caused the death of a security personnel. Besides this, the incident badly affected the relation between both the countries. Despite the fact that the incident was of very high intensity, but still Pakistan has announced to reopen the border while considering the helplessness of Afghanistan. Pakistan has decided to reopen a key southwestern border crossing with landlocked Afghanistan for trade and pedestrian movements starting Monday, a week after sealing the facility over the killing of a Pakistani security guard by an Afghan “terrorist.”
Pakistan and Afghanistan are neighboring countries which are very important for each other due to the geographical fact that neighbors can never be changed. Therefore, the only option both the countries have in their hands is that they should follow the rules and regulations to assure mutual coexistence. Particularly, for Afghanistan it is inevitable to maintain the good relations with Pakistan as it always stands with it. Pakistan has been hosting Afghan refugees. Country is still cooperating with Afghanistan in helping the new government to get the country out of the issues of economy which have been created due to its isolation. Taliban government in Afghanistan is not being endorsed by the world powers. But, still Pakistan is standing with it. So, Afghan authorities should take great care of its relation with Pakistan. Border issues should be resolved as soon as possible. Afghan authorities should ensure that such an incident should not happen again.
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