India-Afghanistan opened ‘air corridor’
If you are fond of Afghan nuts or fruits, then there is a good news for you. A new and strong thread of relations is going to be added between India and Afghanistan. Air cargo movement is going to start soon between Kabul, Delhi and Amritsar. This decision has been taken at a time when neighboring country Pakistan has increased strictness on its borders, due to which Afghan traders were facing huge losses.
On Friday, an official of the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that the ‘Air Freight Corridor’ on the Kabul-Delhi and Kabul-Amritsar routes has been approved.
Taliban ministers come to Delhi, important discussion took place on trade
This announcement has come when the Trade Minister of the Taliban government of Afghanistan, Al-Hajj Nooruddin Azizi, is on a visit to India these days. Aziji has reached New Delhi on a five-day visit, the aim of which is to take the trade relations between the two countries to new heights.
Speaking at an event organized by PHDCCI, Indian External Affairs Ministry official Anand Prakash said, “I am happy to inform that the air corridor on the Kabul-Delhi and Kabul-Amritsar routes has become active and very soon cargo flights will be seen flying on these routes.” Obviously, this will not only improve connectivity but will also deepen trade relations between the two countries.
Nuts will come, medicines will go
Afghan officials want to increase exports of their agricultural products, especially fresh fruits and nuts, to India. If this happens, then the arrival of these things in the Indian markets will increase, due to which the prices can also remain under control. In return, Afghanistan wants to buy medicines, machinery and textiles from India. The discussion is not limited to airways only. Both sides are also considering building a reliable transport corridor through Iran’s Chabahar port. Apart from this, a big problem is regarding payments, because Afghan banks do not have access to the ‘SWIFT’ system. In this meeting, emphasis was also laid on restoring the blocked payment channels.
Answer to Pakistan’s blockade
This step of Afghanistan is also a strong message for Pakistan. Actually, recently the tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan has increased considerably. Pakistan carried out military attacks on the border, in response to which Kabul also took action. After this, Pakistan closed its land borders, due to which the fruits and vegetables of Afghan traders rotted at the border and they suffered huge economic losses.
This is the reason why the Taliban government has advised its businessmen to no longer depend only on Pakistan and look towards other countries for business. This visit of Aziji is part of that strategy.
Let us tell you that before this, Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaki had also come to Delhi, after which India had upgraded its diplomatic mission in Kabul. Now with the start of air cargo, the trade route between the two countries will completely open.