Afghanistan is racing to diversify its trade routes after a deadly border clash with Pakistan last month pushed ties to their lowest point in years, disrupting commerce and affecting communities on both sides of the frontier.
The South Asian neighbors have been embroiled in a tense dispute since the Taliban took control of Kabul in 2021, with Islamabad accusing Afghanistan of sheltering militants behind cross-border attacks—a claim the Taliban government denies.
Last week, Abdul Ghani Baradar, Afghanistan’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs, urged traders to “redirect their trade toward alternative routes instead of Pakistan.” He warned that Kabul would not intervene if businesses continued relying on Pakistani routes.
Pakistan has long been Afghanistan’s top trading partner, supplying rice, pharmaceuticals, and raw materials, while absorbing 45 percent of Afghan exports in 2024, according to the World Bank.
More than 70 percent of those exports, valued at $1.4 billion, consist of perishable agricultural goods such as figs, pistachios, grapes, and pomegranates.
The border closure on October 12, triggered by deadly cross-border fire, left dozens of Afghan trucks stranded with rotting produce.
Though a fragile truce followed, losses have already exceeded $100 million on both sides, impacting up to 25,000 border workers, according to the Pakistan Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI).
Facing potential future disruptions, the Taliban government is now exploring trade partnerships with Iran, Central Asia, and other markets to reduce dependence on Pakistan.
Pomegranates to Russia
Trade with Iran and Turkmenistan has jumped 60–70 percent since mid-October, said Mohammad Yousuf Amin, head of the Chamber of Commerce in Herat, in western Afghanistan.
Kabul also sent apples and pomegranates to Russia for the first time last month.
Russia is the only country to have officially recognised the Taliban administration.
Taliban leaders crave wider recognition and foreign investment, but sanctions on senior figures have made investors wary.
The vast market in India is a prime attraction. On Sunday, state-owned Ariana Afghan Airlines cut freight rates to the country of 1.4 billion people.
Two days later, Kabul sent its commerce and industry minister to New Delhi.
“Afghanistan has too many fruits and vegetables it cannot store because there are no refrigerated warehouses,” said Torek Farhadi, an economic analyst and former IMF adviser.
“Exporting is the only way,” he told AFP. And quickly, before the products spoil.
Kabul touts Iran’s Chabahar port as an alternative to Pakistan’s southern harbours, but Farhadi noted it is farther, costlier and hampered by US sanctions on Tehran.
Distraught
“It’s better for both countries to end this trade war… They need each other,” Farhadi said.
Afghanistan relies on Pakistan’s market of 240 million people and its sea access, while Islamabad wants Afghan transit to reach Central Asia for textile and energy trade.
Pakistan says the closure curbs militant infiltration, but its economy is also feeling the pinch.
In Peshawar, near the frontier, Afghan produce has all but vanished from markets.
Grapes cost four times more, and tomatoes have more than doubled to over 200 rupees (70 cents) a kilogram, an AFP correspondent found.
On Monday, the PAJCCI urged Islamabad to act, warning of mounting costs as shipping containers bound for Afghanistan and Central Asia remain stuck in Pakistan.
Each container is racking up $150–$200 in daily port charges, the group said, adding: “With thousands of containers stuck, the collective economic burden has become unbearable and continues to grow with each passing day.”
Truck driver Naeem Shah, 48, has been waiting at the Pakistani border town of Chaman with sugar and cooking oil bound for Afghanistan.
“I haven’t been paid for a month. No matter who I call, they say there is no money because the border is closed,” he told AFP. “If it doesn’t reopen, we will be distraught.”