Afghanistan is scrambling to diversify its trade partners after a deadly border clash with Pakistan last month brought ties to their lowest point in years, affecting people on both sides of the frontier.The South Asian neighbours have been locked in an increasingly bitter dispute since the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021, with Islamabad accusing Afghanistan of harbouring the militants behind cross-border attacks — charges the Taliban government denies.Abdul Ghani Baradar, Afghanistan’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs, urged traders last week to “redirect their trade toward other alternative routes instead of Pakistan”. Pakistan is landlocked Afghanistan’s top trading partner, supplying rice, pharmaceuticals and raw materials, while taking in 45 percent of Afghan exports in 2024, according to the World Bank. More than 70 percent of those exports, worth $1.4 billion, are perishable farm goods such as figs, pistachios, grapes and pomegranates. Dozens of Afghan trucks were stranded with rotting produce when the frontier shut on October 12 due to deadly cross-border fire, which was followed by a fragile truce. Losses have topped $100 million on both sides, and up to 25,000 border workers have been affected, according to the Pakistan Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI), which seeks to promote bilateral trade.Baradar warned traders that Kabul would not intervene if they kept relying on Pakistan.Wary of further disruptions, the Taliban government is now hedging its bets with Iran, Central Asia — and beyond.- Pomegranates to Russia -Trade with Iran and Turkmenistan has jumped 60–70 percent since mid-October, said Mohammad Yousuf Amin, head of the Chamber of Commerce in Herat, in western Afghanistan.Kabul also sent apples and pomegranates to Russia for the first time last month. Russia is the only country to have officially recognised the Taliban administration.Taliban leaders crave wider recognition and foreign investment, but sanctions on senior figures have made investors wary.The vast market in India is a prime attraction. On Sunday, state-owned Ariana Afghan Airlines cut freight rates to the country of 1.4 billion people.Two days later, Kabul sent its commerce and industry minister to New Delhi.”Afghanistan has too many fruits and vegetables it cannot store because there are no refrigerated warehouses,” said Torek Farhadi, an economic analyst and former IMF adviser. “Exporting is the only way,” he told AFP. And quickly, before the products spoil.Kabul touts Iran’s Chabahar port as an alternative to Pakistan’s southern harbours, but Farhadi noted it is farther, costlier and hampered by US sanctions on Tehran.- ‘Distraught’ -“It’s better for both countries to end this trade war… They need each other,” Farhadi said.Afghanistan relies on Pakistan’s market of 240 million people and its sea access, while Islamabad wants Afghan transit to reach Central Asia for textile and energy trade. Pakistan says the closure curbs militant infiltration, but its economy is also feeling the pinch.The spokesman for Pakistan’s foreign ministry said on Friday that Islamabad had reached its “threshold of patience” after recent attacks.”Either we get ourselves killed or we undertake very risky trade… This is a difficult choice that we have made,” spokesman Tahir Hussain Andrabi told a weekly briefing.”Can you put a price tag on a human life, on a Pakistani life?” he said.In Peshawar, near the frontier, Afghan produce has all but vanished from markets. Grapes cost four times more and tomatoes have more than doubled to over 200 rupees (70 cents) a kilogram, an AFP correspondent found.On Monday, the PAJCCI urged Islamabad to act, warning of mounting costs as shipping containers bound for Afghanistan and Central Asia remain stuck in Pakistan.Each container is racking up $150–$200 in daily port charges, the group said, adding: “With thousands of containers stuck, the collective economic burden has become unbearable and continues to grow with each passing day.”Truck driver Naeem Shah, 48, has been waiting at the Pakistani border town of Chaman with sugar and cooking oil bound for Afghanistan.”I haven’t been paid for a month. No matter who I call, they say there is no money because the border is closed,” he told AFP.”If it doesn’t reopen, we will be distraught.”

India skipper Shubman Gill will miss the must-win second Test against South Africa on Saturday because of the neck injury he sustained in the opening match.The hosts will be led by wicketkeeper and deputy Rishabh Pant in Guwahati as they attempt to rescue the two-Test series.”He is doing fine, he is getting better,” Pant said on Friday of Gill.”He was keen on playing this Test match but his body didn’t allow it.”The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said Gill “will head to Mumbai for further assessment of his injury”.Batsman Gill suffered neck spasms in the first innings of the opening Test and pulled out of the remainder of the match, spending a night in hospital.He travelled with the team to Guwahati but was forced out as the medical staff believed playing him would risk aggravating the injury.”From a captaincy point of view, when you see his resilience that even when your body is not supporting, but you want to push it for your team, that’s the kind of mindset we want to inculcate and he did it from the front,” said Pant.Top-order batter Sai Sudharsan is expected to replace Gill in the team, which will be announced at the toss.India lost a low-scoring opener after they were bundled out for 93 in a chase of 124 at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.It was India’s fourth Test defeat in six matches at home after New Zealand registered a rare 3-0 whitewash on Indian soil last year.”It’s been a tough Test match, the last one, and coming out of it we just want to do whatever is required to win this Test match,” said Pant.A flamboyant left-hand batter, Pant returned to India’s squad for the South Africa Tests after missing the home series against the West Indies last month as he recovered from a foot fracture.The deputy captain said: “One-off matches is not the best scenario as a captain… but whenever you are leading your country it is the proudest moment especially in Test cricket.”At the same time I don’t want to think about it too much. I do not want to take that undue pressure of captaincy in my mind.”The Kolkata pitch drew criticism — it had turn and inconsistent bounce, the Test ending inside three days.The best individual score was South African skipper Temba Bavuma’s unbeaten 55 in the second innings.”This wicket will play better. Definitely it is a better wicket to bat on,” said Pant.”Obviously it will eventually turn after a few days but it is going to be a good contest.”South Africa are chasing a first series win on Indian soil since Hansie Cronje’s team triumphed there in 2000.