Afghanistan’s acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, Nooruddin Azizi, landed in India on Wednesday to commence a five-day visit that’s aimed at strengthening economic and bilateral ties with New Delhi.
The visit comes amidst Afghanistan’s face-off with Pakistan, signalling a shift towards India and Iran’s Chabahar port.
The acting minister, along with his large team, will hold talks with India’s Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal, and other senior officials across ministries to discuss trade, particularly agricultural exports such as figs and saffron to India; increasing Indian exports of pharmaceuticals, machinery and textiles; and establishing reliable air cargo routes as well as a transport corridor.
Also on the cards will be revival of the earlier India-Afghanistan Air Freight Corridor and the restoration of payment channels that were disrupted after Afghan banks lost access to SWIFT.
Azizi’s visit marks the second Taliban Cabinet-rank level visit to India in a month after the country’s Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, visited India in October.
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Since Pakistan’s border closures have crippled Afghan trade – the Torkham border, handling roughly 40 per cent of Afghan trade, has been shut for nearly 45 days – the minister’s visit underscores Kabul’s interest in reviving economic ties with India, its most profitable trade destination after Central Asia.
Its losses of $200 million per month since the shutdown of the Pakistan border can be made up for with diverted perishables to India, which can be transported to India via air routes, bypassing Pakistan.
New dedicated cargo flights were announced last month for routes between Delhi-Kabul, Amritsar-Kabul, and Amritsar-Kandahar.
Despite India’s reduced exports to Afghanistan post-2021, Afghan agricultural shipments have grown sharply with India now buying figs, raisins, apples, asafoetida (hing), garlic, saffron, nuts, pomegranates, apricots, and walnuts from the country.
While Afghanistan exported 296,000 tonnes of agricultural goods in the first 11 months of FY 2024–25, worth $143 million, much of it was destined for India, including dried fruits that represented over $518 million, and fresh fruits, worth another $640 million.
Even as India remains cautious about formally recognising the Taliban, it has reopened its embassy in Kabul and restarted development discussions in healthcare, public infrastructure, and capacity building since it understands that it stands to gain through deepening trade through air routes and Chabahar connectivity, which will reduce Pakistan’s role as a gatekeeper.
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