India Activates Air Cargo Links With Afghanistan; Chabahar Route, Bilateral Trade Attachés in Spotlight

In an effort to boost bilateral trade with Afghanistan, air freight corridors between Kabul and major Indian cities will begin cargo operations soon, M. Anand Prakash, Joint Secretary (PAI) at the Ministry of External Affairs, said on Friday.

Speaking at a PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry interactive session that brought together senior leaders from both countries to deepen commercial ties, Prakash said the groundwork for the new corridors had been completed.

"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,” he said.

Prakash also said that during a recent meeting involving External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Minister of State for Commerce Jitin Prasada, both sides agreed to post trade attachés in each other’s embassies to strengthen and monitor trade cooperation. “Minister [Azizi] himself has agreed that he will soon be sending a trade attaché to the embassy here,” he added.

The announcement was made in the presence of Afghan Commerce and Industry Minister Alhaj Nooruddin Azizi, who is leading a delegation on a five-day visit to New Delhi. Addressing Indian industry representatives, Azizi invited businesses to invest in Afghanistan, assuring them of a conducive environment for trade and economic partnership.

"It would be a very good opportunity in terms of exploring it in the mining industry, the agriculture sector, health, and IT," Azizi noted.

The minister said his country is rolling out a range of fresh incentives, including a 1% tariff on raw materials and machinery, free land allotments, assured power supply, and proposed five-year tax holidays for new industries — especially those set up by Afghan refugees.

Azizi is scheduled to meet Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday, who is currently in Israel for a strategic and economic engagement between the two countries.

Both countries have also agreed to reactivate joint working groups on trade, commerce and investment. Government sources told news agency PTI that the move aims to push bilateral trade beyond the pre-2021 level of over $1.8bn by fully operationalising the Chabahar Port route and easing customs and banking procedures.

During the discussions, Azizi requested quicker processing of business visas, the start of regular shipping services from Chabahar Port, the development of dry ports in Nimruz province, and smoother import–export procedures for Afghan goods at Nhava Sheva Port.

Speaking to Outlook Business, an industry insider involved in construction said materials now take nearly three months to reach Afghanistan through alternative routes after the closure of the Attari–Wagah border. “However, there was a risk of theft along that inland route,” he added.

He said the Chabahar Port route could not only reduce those risks but also cut transit time by half.