KHYBER: Frustrated by the weeklong suspension of trade with Afghanistan via Torkham border over visa restriction, transporters have taken over 100 vehicles loaded with fruits, vegetables and other goods back to Peshawar.

Fruit and vegetable exporters told Dawn that around 90 vehicles, mostly loaded with kinnows, potatoes and other perishable items, had returned to Peshawar since last Saturday when Pakistani authorities refused to allow Afghan transporters without a valid visa to the country.

They said another 30 vehicles carrying various items had also come back from the border last week as the customs authorities at Torkham constantly asked them to return with perishable items, especially fresh fruit, vegetables and fish, as the resumption of bilateral trade was nowhere in sight.

Mujeebullah Shinwari, a customs clearing agent, told Dawn that the flurry of meetings in Peshawar and Islamabad had “slowed down” in the last couple of days due to border tension between Pakistan and Iran as well as a lack of interest on part of Pakistani authorities in relaxing visa policy for Afghan transporters.

He said that a number of Afghan drivers and their assistants with valid visas had been repeatedly requesting border authorities to allow them to go back as they got stuck in traffic with no fault of theirs.

The customs agent said that transport vehicles of some Pakistanis were stranded on the other side of the border despite having the required travel documents.

He said that businessmen and transporters from both Pakistan and Afghanistan had suffered losses to the tune of billions of rupees due to the weeklong suspension of bilateral trade.

Mr Shinwari warned that Pakistani goods could “permanently” lose Afghan market to other neighbours of Afghanistan as a large number of Afghan businesspersons had already placed orders for necessary items with their Iranian counterparts.

Local trader Qari Nazeem Gul, who recently returned from Afghanistan, told Dawn that he saw the Jalalabad region flooded with Iranian goods, especially food items, while shops in the capital Kabul, too, had Iranian products in large numbers.

He claimed that Iran rushed their trade goods to the Afghan capital soon after the suspension of trade with Pakistan on Jan 13.

The trader insisted that Pakistan was left with no option but to relax visa restrictions for Afghan transporters for at least three months.

He added that it would take time for Afghan transporters to get hold of their passports on an emergency basis and for traders and transporters to take cargos already loaded onto their vehicles to Afghanistan to avoid further losses.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2024