Officials for the ministry of commerce and industry of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has informed of reopening of air corridor between Afghanistan and India.
According to officials of the ministry of commerce and industry, a trade agreement has been signed between Afghanistan and India. Based on the agreement, from now on, Afghan traders can continue their trade with India via the air corridor.
“We are working to increase trade and exports of Afghanistan products to India through air corridor comparing to previous years,” said Abdul Salam Jawad, a spokesperson to the ministry of commerce and industry.
Jawad said that last year, 30,000 tons of cotton, handicrafts and other items were exported from Afghanistan to India, adding that it was good for Afghanistan to have trade agreements with India.
“If Russia and Kazakhstan face problems in wheat production, better if we want a trade agreement with India and use the country as an alternative for importing wheat,” Jawad said, adding that effort is underway to have such an agreement with Canada too. Afghanistan is a country which has a top geo-economical position among the countries of the Central Asia, Far East, South Asia and the Middle East. It has lots of opportunities to create corridor with countries in the region for transiting the electricity and gas energy and exporting and importing trade goods. Therefore, establishing any type of economic relationship with Afghanistan is considered very important and vital for all countries in the region.
India, considered as one of the important countries in the region, has provided Afghanistan with more than $3 billion during the last 20 years. The people of Afghanistan and India have a historical friendship that has created a strong desire for friendship, cooperation and harmony between the two neighbors in the region.
India-Afghanistan Friendship Salma Dam and the completion of Chabahar Port for the traders of the two countries show the New Delhi’s determination for the reconstruction and economic development of Afghanistan. Construction of Zaranj-Delaram road, some electricity substations, fruit and vegetable cold stores and some other projects are examples of India’s assistance to Afghanistan in the past 20 years.
In the current situation of humanitarian aid, India has provided Afghanistan with 20,000 tons of wheat and medicines.
Reopening air corridor between Afghanistan and India comes as India is the second largest market for Afghan products and is one of Afghanistan’s largest trading partners. Afghan officials hope that from now on companies of the two countries will boost their trade via the air corridor. Zarabi