By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Monday said the government has decided to open two new border crossings at Chowk Aap and Jalgi (Buleda) on Pak-Iran border.
In a tweet after a meeting with Minister for Defence Production Zubaida Jalal in Islamabad, the Interior Minister said the border crossings will not only help boost bilateral trade between Pakistan and Iran but also promote tourism in the area.
Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday approved the establishment of three border markets along Pakistan’s bordering areas with Afghanistan and Iran as a pilot project.
Setting up of two border markets in Balochistan and one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, under the pilot project, and to be completed by February next, was aimed at providing better business opportunities to the local population.
The prime minister accorded the approval while presiding over a high level meeting held here. Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, advisors Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and Abdul Razzak Dawood, KP Chief Minister Mehmood Khan, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan, Special Assistant to the PM Lt Gen (R) Asim Saleem Bajwa, and senior civil and military officers attended the meeting.
The meeting was briefed in detail about the establishment of proposed border markets at bordering areas with Afghanistan and Iran for the provision of better business opportunities to the local population. It was informed that 12 border markets would be established at Pak-Afghan border and six at Pak-Iran border.
The prime minister, while talking about the establishment of border markets, said it would not only provide better trade and business opportunities to the local residents, especially the youth, but after the border fencing, would also help check smuggling and coordinate trade activities and border crossing by the people.
