Kabul

The ‘Torkham’ checkpoint on the Afghan-Pakistani border was closed due to clashes between Pakistani armed forces and the Afghan Taliban movement, which is banned in several countries as a terrorist organization, reports Eurasiatoday.uz.

In this regard, the director of the Center for the Study of Modern Afghanistan, Omar Nessar, states that border armed clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan are becoming a serious challenge to the implementation of regional transport and transit projects.

According to him, after the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, border skirmishes have become systematic, and ‘it seems that Islamabad has no other leverage over the Taliban except for closing the border to transport.’

Afghanistan is a crucial link in the Trans-Afghan railway project, which will connect Uzbekistan and Pakistan. Ashgabat remains interested in the construction of the TAPI gas pipeline (Turkmenistan – Afghanistan – Pakistan – India).

Tajikistan needs road and rail routes along the China – Tajikistan – Afghanistan corridor. In Afghan Badakhshan, work is underway to build the Wakhan Corridor, which will connect the Wakhan district with the Chinese border.

The implementation of transport projects is complicated by the tension in relations between the Taliban and the Pakistani side.

Earlier in 2024, the ‘Torkham’ checkpoint repeatedly ceased operations due to disagreements between Islamabad and Kabul over visa restrictions imposed by Pakistani authorities on goods carriers after Pakistan began expelling undocumented Afghan refugees from the country.

In March, amid deteriorating relations between Islamabad and Kabul, Pakistan threatened to close the trade route from Afghanistan to India. Former Pakistani Information Minister Jan Achakzai stated that if the Taliban continued to attack Pakistan, Islamabad would quickly annex the Wakhan Corridor.

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Published under International Cooperation with "Sindh Courier"