Discussions on carrying out trade through the Chabahar Port as well as the Attari-Wagah Integrated Check Post (India-Pakistan border) are expected to figure during talks between Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Indian interlocutors when the top diplomat visits New Delhi next week, an Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Sputnik India.
Since 2016, India has been using the Chabahar Port, run by state-backed India Ports Global Limited (IPGL) to transport humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. However, India-Afghanistan humanitarian cooperation through Chabahar has come under a cloud in the wake of the US revoking its 2018-era sanction waiver for Chabahar from 29 September.
Significantly, trade between India and Afghanistan through the land route passing through Pakistan had been impacted in the wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack in April this year.
Increasing the volume of trade transactions, particularly the export of Afghan dried fruits to India, are also expected to figure in India-Afghanistan discussions, the Afghan official said.
The Afghan side is also expected to raise the issue of facilities in the health sector during the visit, the official said. India resumed the visa processing services for Afghan nationals in medical, education and business categories among others only in May, after a gap of four years since the Taliban came back to power in August 2021.
The issue of resuming work on Indian developmental projects in Afghanistan is also expected to figure in talks. Before 2021, India was the largest developmental partner for Afghanistan in the region, with India-funded projects located in all of 34 provinces in Afghanistan and total funding totalling over $3 billion.
On Friday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal noted during his weekly press briefing that the UN Security Council (1988 sanctions committee) had granted an exemption from the travel ban for Muttaqi to visit New Delhi from 9 to 16 October.
Muttaqi is also expected to participate in the Russia-led Moscow Format talks early next week, and travel to New Delhi from the Russian capital.
*under UN sanctions