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India Afghanistan likely to ink air cargo service pact to boost bilateral trade

India Is Likely To Finalise An Aircargo Service Pact With Afghanistan To Boost Bilateral Trade And Gain Leverage In The War-ravaged Country As Pakistan Continues To Deny Transit Link For Indo-Afghan Trade Through Its Territory.

PTI | Updated on: 03 Dec 2016, 07:57:34 PM
India, Afghanistan likely to ink air cargo service pact

Amritsar:

India is likely to finalise an aircargo service pact with Afghanistan to boost bilateral trade and gain leverage in the war-ravaged country as Pakistan continues to deny transit link for Indo-Afghan trade through its territory.

The issue will be discussed during bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on the sidelines of the two-day Heart of Asia conference which began on Saturday.

There is a possibility that the pact will be finalised by on Sunday itself. In the meeting, Afghanistan is likely to seek enhanced supply of military hardware from India and more help forstrengthening its armed forces. Afghanistan has been trying to revamp its military tofight the resurgent Taliban after drawdown of NATO forcesbegan nearly two years back.

Sources said both India and Afghanistan were keen to finalise the air cargo agreement as soon as possible and thatthe broad contours of the pact are already worked out. India and Afghanistan have been exploring variousconnectivity projects for greater two-way trade.

In May, India, Iran and Afghanistan had signed anagreement 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 China's plan to develop Gwadar port in Pakistan.

Afghanistan is very keen on deeper defence and security cooperation with India and there were indications that Ghanimay press for ramping up supply of arms and military hardware from India though Pakistan would be unhappy if there wascloser Indo-Afghan military cooperation.

Last week India had given to Afghanistan the last of thefour military helicopters. India has trained hundreds of Afghan security personnelbut has been adopting a cautious approach in providing weapons. Afghanistan has also been seeking India's assistance inmaking functional Soviet-era helicopters and transportaircraft which were not in flying condition.

India has a strategic partnership with Afghanistan and is implementing projects worth USD 2 billion to help rebuild the country's infrastructure. India has been supporting an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned,broad-based and inclusive process of peace and reconciliation, and advocating the need for a sustained and long-termcommitment to Afghanistan by the international community.

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First Published : 03 Dec 2016, 07:52:00 PM

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