Torkham border closure: Pakistan asks Afghan authorities to respect its territorial integrity
- By Raja Mohsin Ijaz -
- Sep 11, 2023
ISLAMABAD: Responding to Afghanistan government’s statement on the closure of the Torkham border, the Foreign Office (FO) on Monday said that Kabul should respect its territorial integrity and ensure Afghan soil is not used to launch militant attacks in Pakistan, ARY News reported.
In a statement, FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that the statement by the Afghan foreign ministry had “come as a surprise as the interim Afghan authorities know fully well the reasons for the temporary closure” of the border.
Pakistan on Monday said that for the last several decades, it had facilitated Afghan transit trade and would continue to do so, however, it could not allow the misuse of the agreement.
Statement by the Spokesperson in response to the statement by the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the closure of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border
— Spokesperson 🇵🇰 MoFA (@ForeignOfficePk) September 11, 2023
The FO spokesperson said that Pakistan could not accept the construction of any structures by the interim Afghan government inside its territory since those violated its sovereignty.
“On the 6th of September, instead of a peaceful resolution, Afghan troops resorted to indiscriminate firing, targeting Pakistan military posts, damaging the infrastructure at the Torkham Border Terminal, and putting the lives of both Pakistani and Afghan civilians at risk, when they were stopped from erecting such unlawful structures,” she commented.
She said that such unprovoked and indiscriminate firing on Pakistani border posts could not be justified under any circumstances.
The spokesperson said that the unprovoked firing by Afghan border security forces invariably emboldened the terrorist elements. These elements are enjoying sanctuaries inside Afghanistan as confirmed by the UN Security Council’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team in its latest report, she added.
The spokesperson said that Pakistan had always wished the Afghan border to be a border of peace and amity between the two countries.
“We have welcomed our Afghan brothers and sisters with open arms for decades. Pakistan has continued to exercise restraint and prioritize dialogue in the face of persistent unwarranted provocations by Afghan troops deployed along the Pakistan-Afghanistan Border,” she remarked.
The spokesperson said that the temporary closures took place only in extreme cases such as the September 6, 2023 incident on the border or when Afghan soil was used to launch terror attacks inside Pakistan.
She said the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement also included some irrelevant comments and unsolicited advice about Pakistan’s economy and foreign trade.
She reiterated that Pakistan stood ready to resolve all bilateral issues and concerns through constructive dialogue so that both countries could reap the dividends of economic connectivity and resultant prosperity.
“We expect the Afghan interim authorities to be mindful of Pakistan’s concerns, respect the territorial integrity of Pakistan and ensure that the Afghan territory is not used as a launching pad for terrorist attacks against Pakistan,” the spokesperson added.
Torkham border
It is pertinent to mention here that the Torkham border was closed on September 6 after at least two people, including a Frontier Corps (FC) official, were injured when a gun battle erupted between Pakistan and Afghan border forces.
Pakistani officials blamed the other side for the firefight, which lasted for around two hours and came after the Afghan authorities started building a checkpoint on their side in a prohibited area, close to the main border crossing.
Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Afghan foreign ministry expressed concern over the closure of Torkham gate and termed it contrary to the values of a “good neighbour”.
“The closure of Torkham gate can adversely affect bilateral and regional trade and could cause trade and financial losses to merchants on both sides,” the statement added.
“This not only harms the bilateral trade but also fosters distance between the fraternal people and countries while also creating impediments and delays for regional trade and transit,” the statement said.