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India, Afghanistan open air cargo link over Pakistan

INDIA and Afghanistan have established a dedicated air cargo link to boost bilateral trade hindered by hostilities that prevents passage of Indian goods by truck.

India's External Affairs Ministry spokesman Gopal Baglay told reporters in New Delhi that the decision to open the 'dedicated freight corridor" between India and landlocked-Afghanistan was taken during Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's visit to India in December last year, reported the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) in New Delhi.

'the idea of establishing a dedicated air freight corridor was taken in view of the difficulties that we have on the ground in terms of connectivity between the two countries. At the moment, the idea is to try and see if this can be with a frequency of, let us say, a month or every fortnight," said Mr Baglay.

Afghan fruit, dry fruit and carpets are high in demand in India. "The flight will take Indian products to Afghanistan and will bring products of Afghanistan to India. It will operate between Delhi and Kabul," the spokesman said.

Asked if air freighting the goods would be commercially viable, Mr Baglay said the first flight to be run by Afghanistan's Ariana Airlines would determine the feasibility of the corridor. "It is, at the end of the day, a commercial venture which is supported very strongly and very purposefully by both the governments."

Mr Baglay added that the flight would use Pakistani airspace as it is a civil cargo plane and standard operating procedures, as stipulated, would be followed by flight operators.