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Pakistan Allows 150 Stranded Afghan Cargo Trucks to Deliver Goods to India Amid Rising Tensions

May 2, 2025

By The South Asia Times

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has allowed 150 Afghan cargo trucks, which had been stranded in the country for nearly a week, to deliver goods to India, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry reported by the local Dawn newspaper on Thursday.

The trucks, which had been halted after Islamabad suspended trade with India on April 24, were granted permission to cross the Wagah Border, a key crossing point between India and Pakistan. The statement noted that the decision came in response to a formal request from the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad earlier this week regarding the containers stuck in Pakistan.

"Pakistan has decided to permit the stranded Afghan trucks, carrying goods in transit to India, to cross the border," the ministry’s statement said according to Anadolu Agency.

This development comes amid escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. The violence was triggered by the deadly Pahalgam attack on April 22, in which unidentified gunmen killed 26 people in India-administered Kashmir. India claimed the attack had "cross-border links," a charge Islamabad denied, while New Delhi called for a joint investigation into the incident.

In recent days, military exchanges have taken place across the disputed Kashmir border, with both countries accusing each other of small arms fire along the Line of Control.

Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, speaking on Wednesday, emphasized that while Pakistan would not initiate an escalation, the country would respond "very strongly" should India choose to escalate the situation further.

The decision to allow Afghan trucks to continue their journey is seen as a pragmatic move to ensure that trade between Afghanistan and India via Pakistan remains uninterrupted, despite the ongoing geopolitical tensions between Pakistan and India.