In a move they say will prevent terrorists from crossing into the country, Pakistani border authorities have closed the Torkham border for Afghan nationals without proper travel documents.
“The decision has been taken to prevent the entry of terrorists from the other side of the border. The Afghan authorities were informed in advanced about this decision,” said a Pakistani official who asked not to be named. He said that the rule would be extended to other crossing points along the border in the tribal region and Balochistan.
Before the June 1 restriction, up to 20,000 people crossed the Torkham border every day, most of them without a visa. The crossing was always crowded, with vans full of passengers, families crossing the border to meet their relatives on the other side, merchants, and hundreds of cargo trucks. Once the busiest border crossing on the Durand Line, it is expecting to see a significant decline in traffic.
In line with an agreement between Kabul and Islamabad, people on either side who live less than 8 kilometers from the border that divides many tribes are allowed to cross without travel documents.
It is these tribesmen who are the most concerned.
“It is our right to cross the border without a visa, because our Pashtun brothers live on the other side,” a member of the Nangarhar Council told an Afghan news source. “It is our home, and being asked to get a visa to visit our home is unacceptable.” He urged Pakistan to review its decision.
“After the restriction was imposed, many people carrying patients to hospitals in Pakistan were stranded on the Afghan side. They had no prior idea about the development,” said Alam Shinwari, a resident of Khyber Agency who has relatives across the border in Afghanistan.
It is not easy for common Afghans to get passports made for their entire families, he said. “One passport costs around 15,000 Afghanis.”
The number of Afghan patients at private hospitals in Peshawar has reduced drastically. “Our hospitals would be deserted if these restrictions remain,” said Ahmad Khan, an official at one such medical facility. “The Afghan patients admitted here are worried if they will be able to visit again.”
If it is extended to all border crossings, the new rule may also affect bilateral trade between the two countries. A majority of traders from both sides cross the border without any travel documents.
“I used to go to Torkham for business. How will I get a visa for each visit?” Jalalabad-based trader Rasheed Shirzad said in an interaction on the internet.
Bilal Khan, a businessman from Peshawar who exports cement and other construction material to Afghanistan said the decision will hurt Pakistani traders. “The Afghans will find another routes, even if they are more expensive. We are the ones who will lose business.”
The two countries have been pointing fingers at each other for allowing terrorists to cross over and carry out attacks on either side, and ties between the two countries have been especially bitter lately, but experts had agreed Islamabad and Kabul should work out a border management mechanism. But the sudden moved has surprised many, and a number of analysts on either side are calling it unwise.
According to Afghan Journalist Sami Yousafzai, the decision is not good for Pakistan politically and economically. This was Islamabad’s last card and it wasn’t played well, he said in a Twitter message, adding that it will double the number of Afghans visiting India.
Pakistani journalist Wiqas Shah, who has spent many years in Kabul, agrees the move will increase Afghans dependency on Iran and India. “Until recent, it was very difficult for Afghans to get an Iranian visa, but now they have relaxed the conditions,” he said.
On May 4, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Afghanistan and inaugurated a $290 million hydroelectric dam in Herat. The move comes at a time when Islamabad and New Delhi are not on the best of terms either, and Pakistan sees Modi’s overtures towards its neighbors and friends as an attempt to encircle it.
While Modi was in Kabul, the Afghan media echoed with criticism of Pakistan after they found out Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor was in Pakistan when he was killed.
Zahid Khan, the spokesman for the Awami National Party, said the recent Chabahar port deal between India, Iran and Afghanistan, which would bypass Pakistan to provide Kabul an access to the Indian Ocean, should be an eye opener for Islamabad. But instead of trying harder to win the hearts and minds of Afghans, he says Pakistan chose to make a move that alienated it further among the people in the neighboring country.
“I’m unable to understand who formulates our foreign policy and how it is formulated,” he said. “We do not have good relations with any of our neighbors. We are going towards isolation.”
He said energy and electricity lines from central Asia would require good ties with Afghanistan.
But those in favor of the visa requirement argue it is important to manage the border in order to control the movement of violent extremists such as the Taliban to cross over freely and without check, and carry out attacks of find shelter on either side. Stopping them may well be well worth the risk, they say.
Late last month, there were reports that Pakistan had blocked 40,000 computerized national identity cards that had been illegally issued to Afghan nationals over the last few years. Several NADRA officials are facing legal consequences. The revelation that Mullah Mansoor had traveled on a Pakistani passport heightened these concerns.
“Afghanistan and Pakistan are two sovereign countries. They are not one,” argues Mussarat Ahmadzeb, a member of the National Assembly belonging to the PTI. “You cannot visit another country without valid travel documents. Not until there is an EU type system in place.”
“The decision has been taken to prevent the entry of terrorists from the other side of the border. The Afghan authorities were informed in advanced about this decision,” said a Pakistani official who asked not to be named. He said that the rule would be extended to other crossing points along the border in the tribal region and Balochistan.
Before the June 1 restriction, up to 20,000 people crossed the Torkham border every day, most of them without a visa. The crossing was always crowded, with vans full of passengers, families crossing the border to meet their relatives on the other side, merchants, and hundreds of cargo trucks. Once the busiest border crossing on the Durand Line, it is expecting to see a significant decline in traffic.
In line with an agreement between Kabul and Islamabad, people on either side who live less than 8 kilometers from the border that divides many tribes are allowed to cross without travel documents.
"We now need a visa to visit our home"
It is these tribesmen who are the most concerned.
“It is our right to cross the border without a visa, because our Pashtun brothers live on the other side,” a member of the Nangarhar Council told an Afghan news source. “It is our home, and being asked to get a visa to visit our home is unacceptable.” He urged Pakistan to review its decision.
“After the restriction was imposed, many people carrying patients to hospitals in Pakistan were stranded on the Afghan side. They had no prior idea about the development,” said Alam Shinwari, a resident of Khyber Agency who has relatives across the border in Afghanistan.
It is not easy for common Afghans to get passports made for their entire families, he said. “One passport costs around 15,000 Afghanis.”
The number of Afghan patients at private hospitals in Peshawar has reduced drastically. “Our hospitals would be deserted if these restrictions remain,” said Ahmad Khan, an official at one such medical facility. “The Afghan patients admitted here are worried if they will be able to visit again.”
If it is extended to all border crossings, the new rule may also affect bilateral trade between the two countries. A majority of traders from both sides cross the border without any travel documents.
“I used to go to Torkham for business. How will I get a visa for each visit?” Jalalabad-based trader Rasheed Shirzad said in an interaction on the internet.
Bilal Khan, a businessman from Peshawar who exports cement and other construction material to Afghanistan said the decision will hurt Pakistani traders. “The Afghans will find another routes, even if they are more expensive. We are the ones who will lose business.”
The two countries have been pointing fingers at each other for allowing terrorists to cross over and carry out attacks on either side, and ties between the two countries have been especially bitter lately, but experts had agreed Islamabad and Kabul should work out a border management mechanism. But the sudden moved has surprised many, and a number of analysts on either side are calling it unwise.
According to Afghan Journalist Sami Yousafzai, the decision is not good for Pakistan politically and economically. This was Islamabad’s last card and it wasn’t played well, he said in a Twitter message, adding that it will double the number of Afghans visiting India.
Pakistani journalist Wiqas Shah, who has spent many years in Kabul, agrees the move will increase Afghans dependency on Iran and India. “Until recent, it was very difficult for Afghans to get an Iranian visa, but now they have relaxed the conditions,” he said.
On May 4, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Afghanistan and inaugurated a $290 million hydroelectric dam in Herat. The move comes at a time when Islamabad and New Delhi are not on the best of terms either, and Pakistan sees Modi’s overtures towards its neighbors and friends as an attempt to encircle it.
While Modi was in Kabul, the Afghan media echoed with criticism of Pakistan after they found out Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor was in Pakistan when he was killed.
Zahid Khan, the spokesman for the Awami National Party, said the recent Chabahar port deal between India, Iran and Afghanistan, which would bypass Pakistan to provide Kabul an access to the Indian Ocean, should be an eye opener for Islamabad. But instead of trying harder to win the hearts and minds of Afghans, he says Pakistan chose to make a move that alienated it further among the people in the neighboring country.
“I’m unable to understand who formulates our foreign policy and how it is formulated,” he said. “We do not have good relations with any of our neighbors. We are going towards isolation.”
He said energy and electricity lines from central Asia would require good ties with Afghanistan.
But those in favor of the visa requirement argue it is important to manage the border in order to control the movement of violent extremists such as the Taliban to cross over freely and without check, and carry out attacks of find shelter on either side. Stopping them may well be well worth the risk, they say.
Late last month, there were reports that Pakistan had blocked 40,000 computerized national identity cards that had been illegally issued to Afghan nationals over the last few years. Several NADRA officials are facing legal consequences. The revelation that Mullah Mansoor had traveled on a Pakistani passport heightened these concerns.
“Afghanistan and Pakistan are two sovereign countries. They are not one,” argues Mussarat Ahmadzeb, a member of the National Assembly belonging to the PTI. “You cannot visit another country without valid travel documents. Not until there is an EU type system in place.”