GILGIT: The Pakistan-China border post on Khun­jerab Pass opened for year-round trade and travel for the first time on Monday, with 40 Chinese containers loaded with goods and a bus carrying four passengers arriving at Sost (Pakistan) from Xinjiang on Monday.

A bus carrying five passengers left Sost for the Chinese region on the same day.

The locals welcomed the arrival of a bus and goods from China, expressing hopes that the year-round opening of the border would improve the region’s economy and encourage people-to-people contacts.

But traders said they were not confident that arrangements and facilities were adequate on the Pakistan side for trade operations during winter.

Khunjerab Pass connects Gilgit-Baltistan with China’s Xinjiang region and, at 15,500 feet above sea level, is the highest paved international border.

Under a border agreement signed between Islamabad and Beijing in 1985, the pass remains open for travel and trade from April 1 to Nov 30.

Under the current practice, trade and travel remain suspended from Dec 1 to March 31 due to snowfall. The snow is already six inches deep at some points.

But, according to a statement released by the Foreign Office in Islamabad, the Chinese government has agr­e­ed to keep the Khunjerab border open throughout the year.

“Operations at the Khunjerab-Sost border crossing are henceforth expanded to year-round operations, as stipulated under Article 2 (3) of the agreement between China and Pakistan on border ports and their management system signed in 2013,” the statement said.

It requested the Federal Investigation Agency, the Frontier Works Organisation, the National Highway Authority and Pakistan Customs to continue their operations at Khunjerab.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2024