A slower crossingFOR more than a century, travellers, traders, tribesmen and the occasional terrorist have wandered freely across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. That came to an abrupt end on June 1st. For the first time, Pakistan imposed full border controls at Torkham near the Khyber Pass, used by around 15,000 people daily. This is sure to cause hardship for the 40m Pushtuns living on both side of the border. It also shows how regional power dynamics are shifting.
Despite the government’s warning, people were surprised—many did not even have passports to hold their newly required visas. One traveller reported seeing pregnant women lying by the road, desperate to get to a hospital in Peshawar, on the Pakistan side. Commerce will also suffer. Peshawar’s private hospitals rely on fees from a steady stream of Afghan patients. Afghan carpets are really Afghan-Pakistani carpets: woven in Afghanistan, but usually cut, cleaned and sold in Pakistan.
For Afghanistan, the closure inflames the old wound over the Durand Line, which defines the border. The line was agreed in 1893 between the then-king of Afghanistan...Continue reading
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