Pakistan on Friday operationalised the Gwadar port for Afghan transit trade, with the first-ever cargo ship berthing at the seaport to mark the beginning of a new era of trade via sea route from Gwadar to Afghanistan.
In a series of tweets, Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood shared that a ship carrying 16,000 metric tonnes of urea and fertiliser for Afghanistan has arrived in Gwadar.
According to ministry officials, imported urea that arrived at Gwadar would be bagged at the port and later would be sent to Afghanistan in trucks under the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement-2010 (APTTA).
Apart from fertilizers, Afghanistan would also be granted permission for the transit trade of sugar and wheat from Gwadar, whereas only those trucks carrying fully sealed consignments would be allowed to go to the neighbouring country.
Earlier, the government had given a special permission to resume the handling of Afghan cargo at Gwadar port under the APTTA-2010 to help the early clearance and quicker transportation of sugar, wheat, and fertilizer to Afghanistan. However, Gwadar port can be utilized more optimally for trade and transit for Afghan side for other goods as well.
Afghanistan relies heavily on Pakistan for transit as well as bilateral trade necessary for the livelihood of its people as well as its business community. When the flow from Pakistan in both cases gets halted, it not only causes inflation inside Afghanistan due to shortage of commodities, but also a lot of difficulty for the people.
Source: Pakistan Today