LANDI KOTAL: The Afghan border police at Torkham have made acquisition of Afghan visa for all Pakistani transporters mandatory along with keeping other relevant travel documents.

In a pamphlet distributed among the Pakistani transporters on Wednesday, the Afghan border police warned that none of them would be allowed to enter Afghanistan without a valid visa, driving licence, road pass and original number plate of the vehicle.

It said that all transporters taking trade goods in their vehicles to Afghanistan were required to fulfil the requirements by the end of September as they would not be allowed to cross the border after that.

Reacting to the new restrictions imposed by the Afghan government, Israr Shinwari, president of the local transporters union, said that the new conditions were not acceptable to them as it would harm trade with Afghanistan.

He said that the officials of both the countries should sit together and sort out the matter while taking the transporters into confidence.

Haji Azeemullah, another transporter, argued that the new policy, if implemented, would seriously undermine Pakistan’s efforts to enhance bilateral trade with Afghanistan.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2019