Will The ‘Kabuliwala’ Return With His Ware Of Dry Fruits Through Chabahar Port? | India News

NEW DELHI: Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi displayed a striking mix of strategic foresight and cultural nostalgia in his subsequent interactions with the public – whether knowingly or not. Addressing the media in New Delhi on Friday, he emphasized that the Chabahar port is a “good trade route”, reflecting Afghanistan’s intention to turn to alternative routes due to tense relations with Pakistan.

Developed by India in southeast Iran, the port provides the landlocked country with a direct connection to the Arabian Sea and beyond, bypassing Pakistan.

However, the US reimposed sanctions by ending previous exemptions in order to isolate Iran.

This sudden reversal has raised immediate legal, banking and insurance hurdles for Indian and third-country companies operating in Chabahar.

Muttaqi said, “Chabahar is a good trade route. Afghanistan and India should try to remove obstacles after the sanctions imposed by the US. We can solve this through negotiations between Afghanistan-India and the US.” encouraged Muttaqi, underlining the country’s potential to facilitate exports of dried fruits, saffron and handicrafts to India and beyond.

This seemed to be on the minister’s thoughts when he struck a poignant chord with the audience by referencing Rabindranath Tagore’s Kabuliwala while interacting with Indian analysts and experts at an event organized by the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) on Saturday.

New Delhi-based think tank VIF shared on

Muttaqi’s reference to Tagore’s story about an Afghan dry fruit seller in Calcutta in 1892 may have been an evocation of a common cultural memory that has long shaped India-Afghan relations.

He referred to the story as “not fiction, this is our history.”

Coincidentally, on the same day, the Afghan Ministry of Industry and Trade announced that the value of Afghanistan’s dried fruit exports had increased significantly this year.

The main destinations for these exports include India, China, Pakistan, Russia, UAE, Canada, Italy and the UK.

Afghanistan Tolo News quoted Ministry Spokesperson Akhundzada Abdul Salam Jawad as saying, “In the first eight months of this year, the value of dried fruit exports reached 222 million dollars, while in the first eight months of last year (2024) this figure was 179 million dollars.”

However, the country’s Dried Fruit Exporters Association told Tolo News that traders continue to face serious difficulties in the export process.

The closure of the Pakistan border gate, where a fierce war is ongoing, high air transportation costs and problems in money transfers are the main obstacles to dried fruit exports.

Officials in Kabul warn that if these problems are not resolved, they risk losing important markets such as India.

By bringing together infrastructure, trade and literature – knowingly or unknowingly – he presented Afghanistan as a nation with deep historical ties to India and a desire for a peaceful relationship.

As Kabul navigates uncertain waters, dried fruits may seem like a small stake, but they carry memory, identity and hope.

In Tagore’s story, little Mini asked: “Kabuliwala, O Kabuliwala, where have you gone?” Now he may try to return via Chabahar.