India, Afghanistan plan air cargo link over Pakistan

Modi to meet Ashraf Ghani on sidelines of Heart of Asia Conference to finalise plan

ISLAMABAD: India is likely to finalise an air cargo service pact with Afghanistan to boost bilateral trade and gain leverage in the war-ravaged country as Pakistan continues to deny transit link for India-Afghan trade through its territory. The issue will be discussed during a bilateral meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on the sidelines of the two-day Heart of Asia Conference which began in the Indian Punjab city of Amritsar on Saturday.

According to Indian media reports, there is a possibility that the agreement will be finalised by today (Sunday) itself. In the meeting, Afghanistan is likely to seek enhanced supply of military hardware from India and more help for strengthening its armed forces.

Afghanistan has been trying to revamp its military to fight the Taliban after drawdown of Nato forces began nearly two years ago. The sources said that both India and Afghanistan are keen to finalise the air cargo agreement as soon as possible and that the broad contours of the pact have already been worked out. India and Afghanistan have been exploring various connectivity projects for greater two-way trade. In May, India, Iran and Afghanistan signed an agreement to set up a trade and transport corridor with Chabahar in Iran as the hub. The sea-land route of Chabahar port is designed to bypass Pakistan and the project is seen as India's effort to counter Pakistan’s efforts to develop the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) starting from Gwadar Port in Balochistan.

Ashraf Ghani is very keen on deeper defence and security cooperation with India and there are indications that he may press for ramping up supply of arms and military hardware from India though Pakistan would be unhappy if there is closer Indo-Afghan military cooperation since it would be for the purpose of aggressive designs. Last week India had given to Afghanistan the last of the four military helicopters. 

India has trained hundreds of Afghan security personnel but has been adopting a cautious approach in providing weapons. Afghanistan has also been seeking India's assistance in making functional Soviet-era helicopters and transport aircraft which were not in flying condition.

India has a strategic partnership with Afghanistan and is implementing projects worth $2 billion to help rebuild the country’s infrastructure. The sources in the Foreign Office told The News here on Saturday evening that Pakistan would look into such an agreement and its impact once it was concluded between Afghanistan and India.

  Reuters adds: Officials say 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 it battles a deadly Taliban insurgency.

Afghanistan depends on the Pakistani port of Karachi for its foreign trade. It is allowed to send a limited amount of goods overland through Pakistan into India, but imports from India are not allowed along this route.

Afghan director general for macro fiscal policies Khalid Payenda said the potential for trade with India was far greater than allowed by land and so the two countries had decided to use the air route.

"That would be air cargo between Afghanistan and India. We have a lot of potential for trade on both sides. On our side, it's mostly fruit and dried fruit and potentially through India to other places for products like carpets and others." 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 Kabul and Delhi airports.

Indian foreign ministry official Gopal Baglay, who oversees Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, said several proposals were being discussed to improve Afghanistan's trade and transport links. "There have been very many ideas on how to enhance connectivity, overcome current challenges and also expand the trade basket," he said.