First Afghanistan-India air corridor
Q. Where has the first air corridor between India and a neighbouring nation been inaugurated in June 2017?- Published on 22 Jun 17a. Afghanistan
b. Pakistan
c. Uzbekistan
d. Tajikistan
ANSWER: Afghanistan
President Ashraf Ghani has inaugurated the first Afghanistan-India air corridor during a ceremony at the Kabul international airport - a direct route that bypasses Pakistan and is meant to improve commerce.
Ghani, who thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Afghanistan-India air corridor, said the aim of the route is to create more opportunities and make Afghanistan an exporter country.
India is a big market for Afghan goods. Afghan agricultural products will for the first time head to India on cargo planes.
The first India-bound flight on 19th June included 60 tons of medicinal plants and a second flight will carry 40 tons of dry fruits from the southern Kandahar province.
Afghanistan: Know More - Afghanistan is a mountainous landlocked country and all imports and exports depend on neighbouring countries.
- Even before relations between Kabul and Islamabad became strained over accusations of harbouring militants, Pakistan has stymied Afghanistan’s efforts to trade with India.
- After Afghanistan and Pakistan signed a transit trade agreement in 2010, Islamabad allowed Afghan trucks to carry goods up to the Indian border but barred them from ferrying any Indian goods through Pakistani territory.
- The Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) said the medicinal plants carried on the first flight were valued at $11 million.
- ACCI officials said the cost of transporting a kilogram of vegetables and fresh fruit from Kabul and Kandahar to Indian markets will be about 20 cents per kg, and the cost of a kilogram of goods from India to Afghanistan will be about 40 cents.
