Pakistan to allow use of Afghan trucks for transportation from Wagah border to Torkham
Dec 03, 2021
Islamabad [Pakistan], December 3 : Pakistan on Friday said that it will allow the use of Afghan trucks for transportation from the Wagah border to Torkham.
This decision was announced by the Pakistan Foreign Ministry days after it allowed the transportation of 50,000 metric tonnes (MT) of wheat and life-saving medicines from India to Afghanistan via the Wagah border.
"With a view to further facilitate Pakistan's decision to allow transportation of 50,000 MT of wheat and life-saving medicines from India to Afghanistan via Wagah border on an exceptional basis for humanitarian purposes, it has been decided to also allow the use of Afghan trucks for transportation from Wagah border to Torkham," the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"Decision was conveyed to the Charge d' Affaires of India today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Indian government was also urged to proceed quickly to take necessary steps to expeditiously undertake the delivery of the humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan," it added.
Last month, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan informed that the country allowed the passage of 50,000 MT of wheat, which India has offered to provide Afghanistan as humanitarian assistance, to go through Pakistan.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Wednesday had said that Afghanistan's nominal GDP is likely to contract by 20 per cent within a year, from USD 20 billion in 2020 to a figure of USD 16 billion,
A new socio-economic report has warned that this decline may reach 30 per cent in the following years, or USD 14 billion, if urgent corrective action is not taken.
"This new socio-economic assessment on Afghanistan estimates that restricting women from working could result in an immediate economic loss of up to USD 1 billion - or up to five per cent of the country's GDP," said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner.
