Afghanistan seeks new trade routes, relies more on Chabahar amid strained ties with Pakistan

As border tensions with Pakistan continue to escalate, Afghanistan is leaning more heavily on trade routes through Iran and Central Asia to reduce dependence on the eastern neighbour, the Afghan media reported on Saturday.

Afghanistan’s leading news outlet ‘Ariana News’ quoted a Reuters report, saying that Abdul Salam Jawad Akhundzada, a spokesman for the commerce ministry, has confirmed that, in the past six months, Kabul’s trade with Iran has reached $1.6 billion, higher than the $1.1 billion exchanged with Pakistan.

Akhundzada reportedly said that the facilities at Chabahar — the port developed by India in southeastern Iran — have reduced delays and given traders confidence that shipments will not stop when borders close.

As reported by IANS earlier, uncertainties at the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, have forced the Taliban regime to seek new trade routes.

Traders on both sides, together, lose about $1 million every day due to the closure of border crossings, Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Chamber of Commerce President Khan Jan Alokozai told Pajhwok Afghan News recently.

He added about 2000 vehicles used to travel through the border posts daily, but all these routes have been closed for the past several weeks. Perishable items, like fruits and vegetables, are the major cause of the losses incurred by the traders.

The closure comes at a time when Afghanistan’s agricultural exports were showing a rare bright spot amid a difficult economic landscape, with dried fruits — almonds, pistachios, raisins, dried apricots and walnuts — among the country’s most valuable export lines in recent months.

Last month, Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, while addressing the media in New Delhi, laid emphasis on Chabahar port as a “good trade route” reflecting Afghanistan’s intended move towards alternative routes amid strained ties with Pakistan.

The Iranian port offers the landlocked country a direct link to the Arabian Sea and beyond, bypassing Pakistan.

“Chabahar is a good trade route. Afghanistan and India should try to remove the obstacles following sanctions imposed by the US. We can sort it out through negotiations between Afghanistan-India, and the US,” Muttaqi exhorted, underscoring its potential to facilitate exports of dried fruits, saffron, and handicrafts to India and beyond.

 

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India could proactively assist beleaguered Afghanistan by improving transport to Chabahar port and set up a commercial unit entrusted with encouraging Central Asian trade through that port. Turkmenistan is well placed for setting up development zones welcoming Afghans to work there securely. India could request Afghanistan to allow authorised properly attired females to work under Afghan supervision in clothing factories set up on Turkmenistan soil with gates to both nations. Such facilities were used as tax free places of employment in the creation of electronic industries in South East Asia during the 1970s before SE Asia allowed international multinationals full rein. Bangladesh has used such improvisation to become a world leader in textile garments manufacturing. India could assist brother Afghanistan and provide some means of survival for our sisters. Security in such situations is usually provided by both sides like along the DMZ and like previously on the Thai = Cambodia border.