Pakistan restrictions impeding Afghan-India trade

KABUL.

Commerce Minister Humayun Rasa told a cabinet meeting on Wednesday the trade and business opportunity was ripe between India and Afghanistan but Pakistan’s non-acceptance of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Coordination Authority (APTTCA) agreement for the exports of Afghan goods through Waga Port to India was a huge impediment.

Not giving permission to Afghan cargo trucks from India through Pakistan was another barrier, he added.

President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani directed ministers of foreign, commerce, and transport to study and analyze the trade and transit issues with India based on APTTCA agreement and brief the next cabinet meeting.

The APTTCA agreement was signed between Afghanistan and Pakistan on 12 June, 2011. The agreement allows Afghan goods to be exported to major markets in India, China and other countries through Karachi, Gwadar and Qasem Ports.

hg/rm