GWADAR — Pakistan reopened its border crossing with Iran at Gabd-Rimdan on Saturday, restoring bilateral trade and allowing stranded trucks carrying LPG and essential food commodities to resume movement after a week-long suspension that began on October 17, Dawn reported.

Source: Dawn via Tijarat News

Border officials cleared commercial consignments holding a consignment note dated October 16 or earlier to cross at the Gabd-Rimdan point, known as Gate 250, in Gwadar, Dawn reported. The crossing connects Rimdan in Iran's Sistan province with Gabd in Pakistan's Gwadar district and was inaugurated in 2020.

Source: Dawn via Tijarat News

"Pakistan has opened the border with Iran at Gabd-Rimdan this morning and allowed trucks and other vehicles to move toward Iran and Pakistan with import and export goods," Mir Naveed Jan Kalmati, president of the Gwadar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, confirming that trade operations resumed on Saturday morning.

Source: Dawn via Tijarat News

Oct 17date the trade suspension at Gabd-Rimdan and Taftan began, Dawn reported
Oct 16 or earlierconsignment-note date eligible to cross in the first clearance, Dawn reported
Gate 250the name by which the Gabd-Rimdan crossing point in Gwadar is known

Kalmati welcomed the decision, saying the resumption of cross-border commerce would bring immediate relief to traders and transporters stranded on both sides, and that the restored supply chain was expected to ease a nationwide LPG shortage and reduce soaring energy and food prices across Pakistan, Dawn reported. PTI, in its own report of the reopening, likewise said the restoration of supplies could help address Pakistan's LPG shortage and ease pressure on rising food and energy costs.

Source: PTI via Orbit Prime News

Saturday's reopening came after local administrators reviewed the security situation and deployed additional forces to protect trade convoys, Dawn reported. On Thursday, unidentified gunmen targeted the backlog of freight vehicles parked near the closed crossing, setting dozens of trucks ablaze and damaging several others, it reported.

Source: Dawn via Tijarat News

The trucks had been stranded since October 17, when Pakistan's Ministry of Commerce abruptly suspended trade at both the Gabd-Rimdan and Taftan crossings, issuing a memorandum withdrawing an October 3 trade order with immediate effect without specifying a reason for the halt, Dawn reported. The reports of Saturday's reopening concerned Gabd-Rimdan; they did not say that trade at Taftan had also resumed.

Source: Dawn via Tijarat News