Afghanistan’s Exports Rose In October Despite Pakistan Border Closure, Says World Bank

Speaking during a panel discussion, Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s former special representative for Afghanistan, said the group’s actions have weakened its hold on power and created openings for armed resistance movements in the north, including Badakhshan. He added that non-Pashtun communities also form part of an emerging internal opposition.

Durrani said the Taliban have demonstrated an inability to govern effectively or maintain control of the country. He argued that the group has failed across all sectors, including social affairs, the economy and counterterrorism.

Citing international assessments, he said Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which he claimed receives support from the Afghan Taliban, poses a growing threat not only to Pakistan but to the wider South and Central Asian region. According to him, Taliban policies have deepened the group’s isolation among neighbouring states and the broader international community, especially due to its continued ban on education for girls and women.

Durrani warned that anti-Taliban groups in northern Afghanistan have become more active, and that the Taliban’s continued approach could strengthen and unite these armed movements. However, he stressed that Pakistan should not involve itself in any regime-change efforts in Afghanistan, noting that past interventions had failed.

He said the Taliban’s treatment of women has made the group “globally despised.”

Amjad Ali Sher, Pakistan’s former ambassador to Cambodia, also addressed the panel. He noted that the National Resistance Front and the Afghanistan Freedom Front, led by Yasin Zia, maintain a presence in northern Afghanistan and Badakhshan. He said Badakhshan’s strategic importance, bordering Tajikistan, China and Pakistan, makes it a focal point for opposition activity.

Sher said attempts to push back opposition groups have had limited success but warned that efforts aimed at regime change “will continue and will not stop.”

Pakistani media have recently highlighted the possibility of a political shift in Kabul, especially after relations between Islamabad and the Taliban deteriorated sharply. Pakistani officials have stopped referring to the Taliban as the “interim government,” instead calling it the “Taliban regime.” Over the past two months, Islamabad has repeatedly raised concerns about the Taliban’s lack of legitimacy and the exclusion of ethnic groups, minorities and women from power.

Three rounds of talks between the two sides have ended without progress. The Taliban rejected Pakistan’s requests for a written commitment to stop cross-border TTP attacks, issue a religious decree against jihad in Pakistan, and hand over TTP leaders. The Taliban maintain that TTP violence is Pakistan’s internal problem.

Following the closure of border crossings by Pakistan, the Taliban cut trade ties in response. They halted medicine imports from Pakistan and have turned to India in search of alternative supplies.

However, former Pakistani envoys at the panel argued that India cannot replace Pakistan in Afghan trade due to geography. Afghanistan and India share no land border, forcing New Delhi to rely on ports in Pakistan or Iran.

The Taliban are seeking to increase use of Iran’s Chabahar Port, but the port remains under heavy international sanctions.

This has prompted Tehran to introduce a “one-to-one” system governing the entry and exit of Afghan and Iranian freight vehicles.

Esmail Pourabed, director of the Dogharoon customs post, said on Saturday that Iranian trucks have been held at Herat customs for between nine and fifteen days, delays he described as “unprecedented” in recent months.

He said that during November, more than 12,000 cargo trucks crossed from Iran into Afghanistan through Dogharoon, while 10,739 Afghan trucks entered Iran.

Pourabed urged Taliban authorities to maintain a balanced ratio of truck movements on both sides of the border, saying the current restrictions had forced many Iranian drivers to remain in harsh conditions at the Islam Qala customs terminal.

He added that Iran’s judiciary has now implemented a “one-to-one” plan under which one Iranian cargo truck will be allowed to leave for every Afghan truck entering Iran.

Taliban Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi held talks in New Delhi with India’s Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council, which expressed interest in increasing its exports of medicines to Afghanistan.

According to a statement from the Taliban commerce ministry on Saturday, the Indian side also signalled readiness for joint investment and the establishment of pharmaceutical production facilities inside Afghanistan. The discussions covered medicine imports, improving product quality, investment opportunities and solutions to current challenges in bilateral pharmaceutical trade.

The ministry said Azizi assured Indian pharmaceutical companies that the Taliban would fully support credible firms operating in Afghanistan.

The talks come as the Taliban shift away from Pakistan for the supply of essential medicines. Earlier, the Taliban Ministry of Finance announced that customs duties on Pakistani pharmaceutical imports would be suspended for three months. Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdul Ghani Baradar instructed Afghan traders to seek alternative routes to Pakistani border crossings and markets.

The commerce ministry added that Afghan pharmaceutical officials and stakeholders will visit advanced pharmaceutical facilities in India. It also said a delegation from India’s pharmaceutical sector will travel to Kabul to explore practical opportunities for establishing production plants and expanding exports.

İrfan Neziroğlu, Türkiye’s ambassador to Pakistan, said on Friday that the delegation would include the director of the Turkish intelligence organisation and several senior officials. Türkiye’s energy minister, Alparslan Bayraktar, will also accompany the team.

The planned visit was first mentioned by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a meeting with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Baku.

Highlighting Ankara’s security concerns, Neziroğlu said Türkiye wanted to ensure that no individual or group used Afghan territory to enter Pakistan and carry out terrorist attacks. He said the two neighbouring countries should be able to live “as brothers” and that Türkiye was committed to helping achieve that goal.

Türkiye and Qatar have jointly mediated recent talks between Pakistan and the Taliban, but three rounds of negotiations in Doha and Istanbul have ended without progress. Iran and Russia have also begun attempting to play a mediating role, with Iran planning a regional meeting focused on easing Taliban–Pakistan tensions.

Diplomatic and trade relations between Islamabad and the Taliban authorities remain strained. The Taliban are seeking to expand diplomatic and economic ties with other countries to offset the fallout. The Taliban’s commerce minister is currently in India and has recently visited Iran.

Taliban officials have also been looking for alternative trade routes. Before travelling to India, the Taliban commerce minister held discussions in Iran about increasing the use of ports such as Chabahar and Bandar Abbas as substitutes for Karachi and other Pakistani ports.

Pakistan has said that the normalisation of relations will only be possible if the Taliban demonstrate cooperation and take concrete action against militant groups — particularly Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

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.