Pakistan is working to increase trade with Afghanistan: envoy

Pakistan is working to increase trade with Afghanistan: envoy

KABUL: Pakistan's Ambassador to Kabul, Mansoor Ahmad Khan, said Islamabad and Kabul had agreed on a common strategy and mechanism to combat terrorism, in addition to setting up working groups on bilateral trade and tax cuts, opening up Chaman and other border points and promoting aviation links. The ambassador spoke to Geo News correspondent Tariq Abul Hassan in the Afghan capital.

Pakistan shares a 2,600 km border with Afghanistan with Torkham, Chaman, Angor Adda, Ghulam Khan and others, which is used for people-to-people movement and for trade and commerce. In response to a request from the Kabul government, the ambassador said that Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had only announced freedom of movement to Torkham from Afghanistan under the conditions of visas, the procurement process of which would be simplified. Ambassador Khan said Islamabad is also working to facilitate medical visas for Afghans and is making a provision to document the emergency medical movement for those without travel documents.

Pakistan is already issuing visas to thousands of Afghans in need of treatment every month. Pakistan has set up three hospitals in Afghanistan and we would like more health facilities in the border areas so that Afghans do not have to travel to Pakistan. Islamabad will soon reopen the border with Chaman for passenger traffic, transit and trade, said the ambassador.

Regarding facilities and concessions to facilitate bilateral trade, the ambassador said Pakistan had abolished 17 percent taxes on imports of fruits from Afghanistan, as well as abolished tariffs on various goods.

He said a working group will review the scope of trade opportunities and concessions to increase trade from $ 1.5 billion to $ 5 billion to $ 7 billion, the Pakistani ambassador said. It would also facilitate the establishment of trade and transit facilities with the Central Asian states, he said.

We have taken up the issue of cross-border terrorism by TTP, Balochistan sub-nationalists and other groups with the new government in Kabul, which has assured us of full cooperation to prevent its territory from being misused against Pakistan or other countries. In the past few weeks, after the ISIS / Daesh attacks in Afghanistan, the Kabul government has stepped up its counter-terrorism measures, he said. Certain security mechanisms were mutually agreed upon between the two countries in meetings chaired by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, and further discussions are being held by the working groups. Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to closely coordinate the action and political framework against ISIS / Daesh, which is not only a mutual threat but also a serious problem for regional security, Ambassador Khan said.

On the aviationcollaboration, Khan said that we have regular flights between the two countries and that there is a lot of scope for cargo flights. The PIA chairman accompanied Foreign Minister Qureshi's delegation to discuss the development of air links and a working group was set up. He said that in addition to the flights from Karachi and Lahore, we are also looking for flights from Islamabad to Qandahar to Mazar Sharif to Herat. This would be very helpful in connecting the entire region under CPEC.