Trade body warns Pak-Afghan border crisis strands truckers, threatens exports

A leading regional trade body on Saturday called on Pakistani authorities to act immediately as a worsening border crisis with Afghanistan leaves truck drivers stranded, disrupts exports, and threatens millions of dollars in seasonal produce.

The Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PAJCCI) said conditions have deteriorated sharply in recent weeks, with transporters and traders facing escalating violence, food shortages, and mounting financial losses.

PAJCCI President Junaid Makda said dozens of Pakistani truck drivers trapped inside Afghanistan reported coming under fire and surviving violent attacks. Many have been stranded for weeks with limited food, no cash, and rapidly deteriorating living conditions, while hundreds more remain immobilized at Pakistani border crossings without shelter or basic support.

Makda said earlier warnings from the chamber had gone unheeded, allowing the situation to worsen “with each passing day.”

The chamber also highlighted an emerging crisis in kinnow exports. A recent Ministry of Commerce meeting on regional trade bottlenecks, combined with a Nov. 19 decision by the State Bank of Pakistan to reject a request to waive financial-instrument requirements for exports to Iran and Central Asian states via the Iran land route, has left exporters struggling. With U.S. sanctions constraining payment channels, kinnow exporters are now “left without any workable payment mechanism,” PAJCCI said.

Pakistan exported $110 million worth of kinnow last year and projected $100 million this season. Exporters are now unable to reach traditional markets, putting contracts and the livelihoods of growers and supply-chain workers at risk, the chamber added.

Makda further said thousands of containers carrying bilateral, transit, and Central Asian cargo remain stranded across Pakistan, including shipments bound for Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. Daily port demurrage and shipping-line detention charges of $150 to $200 per container are compounding losses for transporters, clearing agents, and traders.

PAJCCI described the situation as a “force majeure” event and urged authorities to waive all demurrage and detention charges to prevent further financial damage.

The chamber warned that the crisis has escalated beyond commercial disruption into a humanitarian, financial, and logistical emergency affecting thousands of workers and families.

“While national security considerations remain critical, the scale of this crisis demands swift, compassionate, and solution-oriented intervention to ease the burden on affected communities,” Makda said.