India–Afghanistan air cargo services to restart

Air cargo services between India and Afghanistan will commence very soon, an External Affairs Ministry official said on Friday, during a visit by Afghanistan’s Taliban Trade Minister Al-Haj Nooruddin Azizi to India.

“I am pleased to announce that the air freight corridor on the Kabul-Delhi sector and Kabul-Amritsar routes have been activated and cargo flights on these sectors will commence very soon,” Anand Prakash, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, said.

“This will significantly enhance their connectivity and further strengthen our trade and commercial ties,” he added.

The official further informed that on Thursday, both sides agreed to depute a trade attache in each other’s embassy to oversee and support bilateral trade cooperation.

He said the joint working group on trade, commerce and investment will be reactivated to boost bilateral trade between India and Afghanistan.

“Bilateral trade stands at around 1 billion. However, there remains significant scope for further growth. In this context, we have decided to reactivate the joint working group on trade, commerce and investment. The active involvement of Indian and Afghan businesses will be essential to make this particular joint working group the process more effective,” the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs said.

He was speaking at an interactive session with the delegation from Afghanistan led by its Commerce and Industry Minister Azizi here, organised by industry body PHDCCI.