Gilgit: The famous Khunjerab Pass, a major trade route between the two brotherly neighbouring countries, Pakistan and China, will remain open throughout the year for trade and travel activities.
According to a local political leader, the Chinese authorities had also agreed to relax restrictions on the import of several items from Pakistan.
Khunjerab Pass was opened earlier in April this year after a closure of almost three years in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The pass connects Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan with China’s Xinjiang, the Uyghur autonomous region, which had been closed in the year 2020 after the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Under an agreement, trade and travel activities between the two countries through the Khunjerab Pass start on the Ist of April and close on 30 November, while there was a daily bus service from Sost Valley of Gilgit-Baltistan to Xinjiang province of China.
This arrangement under the framework of CPEC was going well since November 2016 but had to be discontinued in November 2019 as part of the measures to contain the Coronavirus.
As the situation improved, there was increasing demand from the people of GB to open the border point both for travel and trade as the closure rendered thousands of people jobless, according to some estimates, about 70% local population depended on the border trade for their livelihood.
