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A Pakistani government-owned company and a leading Chinese transportation organization resumed a cross-border bus service on Tuesday, connecting Pakistan and China through the high-altitude Khunjerab Pass after a 14-year break.
The bus service, which used to connect Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan region with China’s Xinjiang, was suspended in 2010 due to a major landslide in Hunza’s Attabad village that wrecked a 14km section of the Karakoram Highway (KKH).
In the disaster, at least 20 people lost their lives and 6,000 were rendered homeless.
“The Gilgit-Baltistan government has repaired the road, and the Northern Areas Transportation Company of Pakistan, in association with China’s Xinjiang-Kashgar Xin Lu Transportation Co. Ltd., has resumed the bus service from Gilgit to Kashgar, Aziz Ahmed Jamali, Natco’s managing director, told Arab News.
The bus will operate twice a week on this route at a fare of Rs18,000 ($64.69) per passenger.
According to Jamali, the bus service can carry up to 320 passengers during a month. Natco, which has served Gilgit-Baltistan since 1974, transports around 500,000 passengers annually and operates across 40 national and international routes.
According to reports from the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), 96 per cent of Pakistan and China’s trade consists of Chinese exports to Pakistan, while only 4 per cent goes the other way. Electronic products, shoes and garments, and spare car parts are major imports from China, while gemstones, dried fruits, medicinal herbs, and ready-made clothing items are the main exports of Pakistan.
“This direct road from Gilgit to Kashgar will save traders a lot of time and, indirectly, boost their opportunities,” said Jamali.
