Kabul keen on air services between Delhi & Kandahar
ET has reliably gathered that the proposal is being actively considered by New Delhi, which has paved the way for adding Amritsar as an additional point of call on the Indian side. This will result in Afghan airlines being able to offer air courier services back and forth from Kabul and Kandahar to New Delhi and Amritsar.
However, the request of the Taliban government, which is currently in conflict with Pakistan, is to include Kandahar as another stopover point in order to reach the main cities affected by the halt of border trade with Pakistan from important cities. Affordable medicines are a particularly important requirement, along with the urgent need to find a way for perishable Afghan products to reach Indian markets.
These routes will be operated by Afghan airlines as Indian air operators cannot serve Afghanistan due to the closure of Pakistani airspace. Although Pakistan has closed border trade with Afghanistan, it has not stopped flight services because a reciprocal closure by Kabul would have a more detrimental impact on Pakistani carriers accessing western destinations.
India has increased relations with the Taliban leadership after carefully nurturing new leadership over the past few years. What started as quiet interactions at the official level has now turned into official ministerial meetings at a time when ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan have deteriorated sharply. However, given the history, the Kandahar proposal has undergone thorough security review, sources said.
Afghanistan remained dependent on border trade with Pakistan for basic needs through transit and crossing points such as Torkham and Chaman on the Af-Pak border. However, with the escalation of hostilities between both sides, the Pakistan Army decided to use this dependence as leverage against the Taliban government after no progress was achieved in the talks mediated by Türkiye.
