Afghanistan looks to India partnership as Pakistan shuts down key trade corridor

He thanked India’s Ministry of External Affairs for facilitating discussions, noting that technical teams and private-sector representatives from both countries have been in continuous contact.

Afghanistan is accelerating efforts to diversify its trade routes after Islamabad halted the transit of Afghan goods through Karachi, prompting Kabul to strengthen alternative corridors — particularly via Iran’s Chabahar Port and expanded cooperation with India.

Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi on Monday, Afghanistan’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Nooruddin Azizi, said trade disruptions with Pakistan had intensified in recent weeks, forcing Afghan exporters and importers to seek more reliable access to global markets.

“Pakistan has stopped Afghan transit and trade through Karachi,” Azizi said. “Historically, this was our primary link to the world. Now, we are working to create new routes, including Chabahar, and we have already begun the groundwork.”

Azizi noted that Afghanistan is coordinating closely with the Indian government to make the Chabahar corridor fully operational. He said only “minor technical challenges” remain and that both sides are committed to ensuring smooth, long-term commercial connectivity. The minister also met Afghan traders based in India, assuring them that Kabul would take concrete steps to resolve trade-related challenges and boost business confidence.

During his Delhi visit — the first by an Afghan minister to the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) since 2021 — Azizi said the trip could help reset bilateral economic engagement that has stagnated since the political transition in Afghanistan.

He thanked India’s Ministry of External Affairs for facilitating discussions, noting that technical teams and private-sector representatives from both countries have been in continuous contact.

“This visit opens new opportunities for both countries to work together,” he said. “Our objective is to enhance economic cooperation and reactivate historic relations in trade, investment, and other areas.”

The renewed outreach comes amid strained Afghanistan–Pakistan relations, including repeated closures at crossings that have disrupted exports, inflated costs for traders, and pushed Kabul to accelerate diversification.

With Chabahar emerging as a viable alternative and India signaling willingness to revive economic ties, Afghanistan is seeking a more stable and strategically balanced framework for regional trade integration.