Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations: Implications of Transit Trade Issues for the Region of South Asia

Abstract

Afghanistan is a landlocked country and has been largely relying upon Pakistan for its external overland trade. The issue of transit trade between the two countries remains a spar in their bilateral relations which has resulted in 41% reduction of Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan and poses serious implications not only for the two neighbors but also for the region of South Asia. Early resolution of the issues will remove bottlenecks in the realization of full economic potential of the two countries; secondly, will be instrumental in bringing peace and stability and will expedite economic integration of South Asia and Central Asia.