India Afghanistan relations : Weekly Important Articles

The Issue in News

India will soon hold talks with Afghanistan on ways to boost bilateral trade and investment.
This meeting is also aimed at mounting pressure on Islamabad to facilitate trouble-free transit of goods from India to Afghanistan through Pakistan (Wagah-Attari route).
This is to help in the development of Afghanistan which is a land-locked and Least Developed Country (LDC) as well as to boost trade and investment in South Asia through better regional connectivity.
It will also help India to improve trade ties with Central Asian nations.

United Nations TIR (Transports InternationauxRoutiers or International Road Transport)

The ‘India-Afghanistan Joint Working Group on Trade, Commerce and Investment’ meeting will discuss ways to make use of the United Nations TIR Convention to boost trade between India and Afghanistan through Pakistan.
The TIR Convention facilitates trade and international road transport by permitting customs-sealed vehicles and containers to transit nations without them being generally inspected at border crossings.
The Union Cabinet had earlier this month granted its nod for India’s accession to the TIR Convention.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are also ‘contracting parties’ to the TIR Convention.

Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA)

According to the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA), Afghanistan can use Pakistan’s territory for transit trade while Pakistan’s goods can move through Afghanistan to nations bordering Afghanistan.
However, Islamabad has not agreed to allow using APTTA for goods to be transported from India to Afghanistan through Pakistan’s territory (via the Wagah-Attari route).

Situation from New Delhi’s Point of View

India is keen to join APTTA and Afghanistan has backed India’s readiness to be an APTTA member but Pakistan has so far rejected such a proposal.
The sources said while India is likely to soon make renewed efforts to be an APTTA member, it will also look at how the UN TIR Convention can help send goods to Afghanistan through Pakistan.

Transit route

In the absence of transit route through Pakistan, India depends on other countries, including Iran, to send goods to Afghanistan even though it increases time and costs for Indian exporters.
India is also planning to strengthen air cargo links with Afghanistan as well as help expedite the development of Chabahar Port in Iran to bypass the Pakistan route to increase trade relations with Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asian countries.

Current Trade Scenario

India-Afghanistan goods trade had jumped nearly 22% to $834.5 million in 2015-16 with India’s exports to Afghanistan being $526.6 million and its imports from Afghanistan worth $307.9 million.
However, it is still far below potential. During April-December 2016-17, the bilateral trade was to the tune of $590.1 million with India’s exports to Afghanistan being $377.2 million and imports from Afghanistan worth $212.9 million.
India’s main export items to Afghanistan are textiles, pharmaceuticals, tobacco, iron & steel and electrical machinery, while its imports from Afghanistan are fruits and nuts, gums and resins, coffee, tea and spices.

A Quick Review of India-Afghanistan ties

Relations between the people of Afghanistan and India traces to the Indus Valley Civilisation.
In 1999, India became one of the key supporters of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance.
India’s support and collaboration extends to rebuilding of air links, power plants and investing in health and education sectors as well as helping to train Afghan civil servants, diplomats and police.
In 2005, India proposed Afghanistan’s membership in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Both nations also developed strategic and military cooperation against Islamic militants.
Three memorandums of understanding (MOUs) for strengthening cooperation in the fields of rural development, education and standardisation during Hamid Karzai’s visit to India in April 2006.
During the 15th SAARC summit in Colombo, India pledged another $450 million alongside a further $750 million already pledged for ongoing and forthcoming projects.
India condemned the assassination of former Afghan President BurhanuddinRabbani in September 2011. India reiterated the steadfast support of the people and government of India in Afghanistan’s “quest for peace and efforts to strengthen the roots of democracy”
India seeks to expand its economic presence in Afghanistan as the international coalition fighting the Taliban withdraws combat forces through 2014.

Conclusion

A decade of democracy has opened up Afghan society and India’s cooperation programmes have helped develop sustainable links around a shared vision.
Dialogues with Afghanistan’s neighbours will become important as these countries start feeling nervous about the return of instability

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