India, Afghanistan likely to sign air cargo service pact

Dec 05, 2016: India is likely to finalize an air cargo service pact with Afghanistan to boost bilateral trade between the two countries. The deal would give India leverage in the war-ravaged country even as Pakistan continues to deny transit link for India-Afghan trade through its territory.

The issue was to 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 was held in India.

Afghanistan has been trying to revamp its military to fight the resurgent Taliban after drawdown of NATO forces began nearly two years back. The war ravaged country seeks enhanced supply of military hardware from India and more help for strengthening its armed forces.

Sources said both India and Afghanistan were keen to finalise the air cargo agreement as soon as possible and that the broad contours of the pact are already worked out.

India and Afghanistan have been exploring various connectivity projects for greater two-way trade.