Pakistan allows Afghan cargo trucks to deliver goods to India

By Berk Kutay Gokmen

ISTANBUL (AA) - Pakistan on Thursday allowed 150 stranded Afghan cargo trucks to deliver goods to India, the local Dawn newspaper reported, citing a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad.

The move came nearly a week after Islamabad suspended trade with New Delhi on April 24, including through third countries via Pakistan.

The ministry statement acknowledged a request from the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad on Monday regarding containers that were stranded in Pakistan.

"Pakistan has decided to permit stranded Afghan trucks, carrying goods in transit to India," the statement said, noting that Islamabad allowed the 150 stranded trucks to cross the Wagah Border, a border crossing between India and Pakistan.

The development came amid rising tensions between the two nuclear neighbors following the April 22 Pahalgam attack by unidentified gunmen in India-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 people.

New Delhi claimed the attack had "cross-border links," which Islamabad denied, and demanded a joint investigation into the incident.

In the last several days, the armies of the two South Asian countries exchanged small arms fire across the disputed Kashmir border — the Line of Control.

Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Wednesday that the country will not be the first to resort to escalation, but that it will respond "very strongly" if India does.