Ready for the Delhi-Kabul AIRBRIDGE

While the recent Heart of Asia conference sent out a strong message to the world community about Pakistan’s involvement in harbouring and fostering terrorists, it also saw the first steps by India and Pakistan to create an air cargo service that would be an important enabler of twoway trade between India and Afghanistan. Such a service comes on the back of the establishment of the Iranian port of Chabahar port.

India is getting ready to start air cargo services to land-locked Afghanistan – and it will be done by bypassing Pakistan. The move came after both nations realised that two-way trade would continue to be hampered because of political relations with Pakistan that lies between them. A Reuters report quoting Indian officials said that the air cargo link would “boost the growth prospects of its fruit and carpet industries while (Afghanistan) battles a deadly Taliban insurgency”. Today, there is minimal trade between India and Afghanistan with most of it done overland through Pakistan.

The move was, in fact, kickstarted aftera meeting of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on the sidelines of the recent Sixth Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process or HoA-IP (part of a 14-nation process that was begun in 2011 to facilitate the development and security of Afghanistan) that was held in Amritsar. India has decided to utilise part of the $1 billion aid for “a possible air corridor between India and Afghanistan to overcome obstacles to promotion of bilateral trade”.