The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which has about 8 crore traders as its members, on Tuesday said the change in regime in Afghanistan will badly impact bilateral trade with India, and lead to losses for the traders.
Noting that Afghan exports to India include dried raisin, walnut, almond, fig, pine nut, pistachios, dried apricot and fresh fruits such as apricot, cherry, watermelon, and medicinal herbs, CAIT National President B C Bhartia said prices in the markets may go up due to political uncertainty in Afghanistan.
“Currently, the import-export shipments are stranded which may cause heavy losses to the traders. Huge amounts of payments are likely to be blocked which will put traders in a vulnerable situation,” the traders’ body said.
The bilateral trade between India and Afghanistan was $1.4 billion in 2020-21. Exports from India were $826 million and imports were aggregated at $510 million in 2020-21.
Traders said they expect there will be a complete standstill in the trade for a certain time. “It is a landlocked country, and the air route is the main medium of exports and that has been disrupted. Trade will resume only after the uncertainty gets down. It is likely that private players will have to deal through third countries to export to Afghanistan but it all depends on how the situation takes place. Exports from India would completely stop as now there will be an issue of timely payment,” they said.
Source: The Hindu
