ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will issue multiple-entry visas valid for one year to Afghan drivers and transporters to facilitate cross-border trade, its embassy in Kabul announced on Friday, amid an ongoing campaign to deport undocumented Afghan nationals.
Afghan drivers play a vital role in bilateral and transit trade between the two countries.
Under the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA), Afghan transporters are allowed to move goods between Pakistani ports and their countries major cities like Kandahar, Jalalabad and Kabul.
The Pakistan government’s decision to issue visas comes at a time when the government has repatriated 979,486 Afghan nationals since launching a deportation drive in 2023 over security concerns.
“The Government of Pakistan has decided to issue multiple-entry visas of one-year validity to Afghan drivers and transporters,” the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul said in a post on X. “The visa fee for this category would be $100.”
