India Removes Export Tariffs on Afghan Goods

The Indian government will not charge tariffs on more than 460 goods being exported from Afghanistan to India in a bid to increase trade between the two countries, the Afghan ministry of commerce and industries said Saturday.

Minister Anwar ul Haq Ahadi said that the Indian government has agreed to not charge tariffs on 465 kinds of Afghan goods amid Afghanistan's troubles with transiting the goods through Pakistan.

"We are trying to negotiate with the Pakistani government to remove the transit problems and we are also seeking another ways to simplify the process," Ahadi said.

Meanwhile, a delegation of trade specialists from India have arrived in Afghanistan to give technical assistance to help Afghan traders and producers saying that the Indian markets will benefit from Afghanistan's goods.

Officials at India's embassy in Afghanistan said that they will also try to use the Central Asian countries to improve trade between Afghanistan and India.

"We are exploring other routes for access to the sea to export and import Afghanistan's product through Iran, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan," Ambassador Gautam Mukhopadhaya told TOLOnews.

However the benefits for facilitating the transport of goods is likely to be more in India's favour based on the trade statistics.

While trade between Afghanistan and India reached $500 million last year, $100 million was Afghanistan's exports to India and $400 million was India's exports to Afghanistan.