The Taliban’s Minister of Industry and Commerce and India’s Minister of State for Commerce and Industry have agreed to appoint trade attachés at each other’s embassies in an effort to strengthen economic cooperation.
Bilateral trade between Afghanistan and India is estimated to exceed one billion dollars.
According to Indian media, the agreement was reached during a meeting in New Delhi between Nooruddin Azizi, the Taliban’s commerce minister, and Jitin Prasada, India’s Minister of State for Commerce and Industry. During the talks, Azizi identified mining, agriculture, health, pharmaceuticals, information technology, energy and textiles as key sectors offering new opportunities for collaboration. He urged Indian industrialists to closely examine Afghanistan’s economic potential.
Azizi is in New Delhi for a five-day visit with a Taliban trade delegation.
The agreement also includes reactivating a joint working group on trade, investment and economic cooperation. The newly appointed trade attachés will be tasked with facilitating and supporting commercial engagement.
While in India, Azizi announced a set of Taliban incentives for investors, including a one-percent tariff on raw materials and machinery, free land allocation, reliable electricity and a five-year tax exemption for new industries, particularly those established by returning Afghan migrants.
Earlier on Friday, Afghan officials said air-cargo flights between Afghanistan and India had been reactivated and would resume soon. The announcement was confirmed by Anand Prakash, deputy secretary at India’s Ministry of External Affairs, in the presence of the Taliban commerce minister.
