GILGIT: Pakistan and China have resumed trade and tourism traffic on the Karakoram Highway, through the Khunjerab Pass. The two countries had earlier this year agreed to open the border on 1st April, instead of 1st May, as was the past practice.The Dispatch News Desk (DND) reported.
A bus carrying passengers from China reached the Pakistan Customs House located in the border town of Sost on Monday. The importance of the trade through the Karakoram Highway has increased significantly due to the powerful presence of Chinese business companies in Gwadar. It is pertinent to note that the outgoing Pakistan government had handed over the management of Gwadar Port to a Chinese company recently.
The trade through Karakoram Highway has badly been disrupted due to the blockade and destruction caused by the landslide along the Hunza river forming a huge lake called Atabad Lake.
Currently, tunnels are being constructed near Attabad and Ayeenabad to realign the KKH. The realignment work is not likely to be completed before mid of 2014, according to China Roads and Bridges Corporation (CRBC) officials, who are working on expansion and realignment of the KKH.
