The closure of major border crossings between Afghanistan and Pakistan, including Torkham and Chaman, has caused heavy losses for Pakistani traders and exporters and has pushed bilateral trade into a serious crisis, according to a report by Dawn News.
According to the report, trade between Afghanistan and Pakistan has been a source of income for thousands of families in both countries for decades. Every year, goods worth billions of rupees, particularly fresh fruits and vegetables, are transported through these routes. However, the closure of the main crossings in October 2025 brought freight trucks to a standstill, caused agricultural products to spoil, and resulted in significant financial losses for Pakistani traders.
Rahman Gul, a veteran Pakistani commission agent, told Dawn News that after spending 21 years building a network for transporting agricultural products, tensions between the two countries left his traders’ trucks stranded at the border crossing. He said he suffered losses of around 110 million Pakistani rupees, an amount that had been paid in advance for the shipment of goods.
He said traders are losing between one million and 1.5 million rupees every day. He added that the prolonged closure of the crossings has increased the prices of essential goods and caused products such as lemons, chilies, and garlic to spoil inside containers.
Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi, Senior Vice President of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Pakistan exports around $1.5 billion worth of goods to Afghanistan annually. However, the 10-month closure of the border crossings has deprived Pakistani traders of nearly $1 billion in revenue.
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