KABUL: India and Afghanistan are likely to announce an air cargo service to help increase trade that both say is stymied because of their tense political relations with Pakistan. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are meeting in Amritsar, for the Heart of Asia conference that is aimed at stabilising Afghanistan.
Officials say that the focus of the air cargo service is to improve landlocked Afghanistan’s connectivity to key markets abroad and boost the growth prospects of its fruit and carpet industries, while the country battles a deadly Taliban insurgency. Afghanistan depends on the Karachi port for its foreign trade. It is allowed to send a limited amount of goods overland through Pakistan into India, but its imports from India are not allowed along this route.
Afghan director general for macro-fiscal policies Khalid Payenda said that the potential for trade with India, the largest market in the region, was far greater than allowed by land and so the two countries had decided to use the air route. He said that a joint venture involving an Afghan and an Indian cargo firm would be set up and that the two governments were working to set up infrastructure at airports in Kabul and Delhi. An Indian government source attending the meeting in Amritsar said air cargo route details were still being worked out and could include Kandahar as a point of origin for shipping fruit directly to India.
Pakistan’s ties with both of its neighbours have been severed, and the tensions on both borders have risen manifolds in recent times. Both the countries have accused Pakistan of proving safe havens to terrorist elements which have been orchestrating attacks in both the countries.
Amid all these developments, although, Pakistan needs to be cautious, there is a need for long-term policy that could help connect the whole region. While Pakistan allows certain goods to be transported to India through its land, the same isn’t authorized to India. While these policies could serve short-term goals of the politicians, they will need to review it keeping in mind the long-term effects of open trade.
Afghanistan has conditioned Pakistan’s access to Central Asian Republics on the permission to use Pakistan’s land for imports from India. Other than the cargo link, India been developing the Chabahar port to bypass Pakistan to access the Central Asian markets. Normalisation of relations and trade policies which benefit the who region are necessary for the uplift of the whole region. It all depends on how soon the leaders of these countries realise the importance of such connectivity.
