Pakistan has once again made it clear that until the Afghan government gives firm assurance of preventing the infiltration of terrorists into Pakistan, the Pakistan-Afghanistan border will remain closed, and terrorism from across the border will also be responded to strictly.
In the weekly briefing on 5 December, the spokesperson of the Foreign Office said that the issue is not only the TTP, but some Afghan citizens have also been involved in acts of terrorism in Pakistan. Pakistan has closed the border with Afghanistan for its own protection; we do not want the chain of bloodshed against Pakistani citizens to continue.
On the other hand, the Afghan government has also indicated that even if the trade routes with Pakistan remain closed, they have an alternative route available. The reality is that if this situation continues, its greatest and heaviest effects will have to be borne by the oppressed Afghan people themselves. Pakistan had to make the decision of border closure keeping in view its security and the protection of its citizens’ lives, because Pakistan’s patience had overflowed, and this decision is considered to be fully in accordance with international laws and principles, as no country can tolerate terrorism or illegal infiltration on its soil. If the Afghan government does not provide serious assurances in stopping the groups attacking from Pakistan’s territory, then according to ground realities, Pakistan has no option left in border management except harshness and strictness along with retaliatory action. In such a situation, Afghanistan is already engulfed in issues like economic instability, internal unemployment, and limited diplomatic relations at the global level, and with the added pressure of border closure, the dance of hunger and poverty in Afghanistan will become even more intense.
It is obvious that economically as well, the burden of the major loss is being borne by Afghanistan. Due to limited access to Pakistan’s markets and alternative routes, the expenses of Afghan traders have increased, under whose burden the common people are being crushed, whereas most of Afghanistan’s trade routes with Central Asia and the outside world depend on Pakistan. Now if Pakistan, giving preference to its security, continues the border closure, then the alternative routes for Afghanistan will not only be long and expensive, but they will also have more political, travel, and logistical complications. On the other hand, Pakistan has options such as Gwadar and port facilities, whereas Afghanistan neither has access to the sea nor such alternative routes through which its trade can continue without obstruction. Therefore, if tension continues, Afghanistan will face long-term economic and social effects.
If Pakistan-Afghanistan trade is analysed, then in 2021, after the Taliban government in Kabul, the trade volume between Pakistan and Afghanistan increased from approximately 1.5 billion to 2 billion dollars. Pakistan’s exports to its neighbouring country remained higher, due to which, according to officials, its share in this 2-billion-dollar trade is 1.4 billion dollars. Among the items Pakistan sells, food items such as rice and wheat were on top, followed by the supply of medicines and cement. On the other hand, Afghanistan sends coal, cotton, fruit, and vegetables to Pakistan. Afghanistan also has a very high dependence on Pakistan due to transit trade. In the year 2023, the volume of Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan was 1.07 billion dollars, which increased to 1.39 billion dollars in 2024.
However, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif believes that Pakistan itself benefits from the closure of Afghan transit trade because these goods often get smuggled back into Pakistan. Afghanistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has now told Afghan industrialists and traders that they should find alternative trade markets instead of Pakistan.
According to the news published on 23 November in Jang News, negative effects on the Afghan economy have begun to appear due to the closure of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. According to Afghan media, due to the border closure by Pakistan, the prices of basic goods in Afghanistan have risen to an extraordinary extent. Afghan people say that basic food items are now out of reach of the common man—how can the poor survive? The Afghan Chamber of Commerce said that monthly border closure may cause a loss of about 200 million dollars; due to trade dependence on Pakistan, Afghanistan is facing the greatest and unbearable loss from the border closure.
In this regard, experts say that rising prices of food and fuel can make the lives of Afghan people even more difficult during winter. If the Pakistan-Afghanistan border does not open soon, then the common people of Afghanistan—whom the people of Pakistan have affection and love for, and with whom Pakistani and Afghan people share many common values—India, an enemy, is taking full advantage of this situation. If the situation is not corrected soon, then along with Afghanistan, Pakistan will also face deep impacts of this, which both countries cannot bear for a long time.
