Afghanistan’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, Nooruddin Azizi, will be on a 5-day visit to India from tomorrow. Accompanied by a large delegation, the minister will be meeting his Indian counterpart, Piyush Goyal, during the visit. This is the second cabinet-rank trip from Afghanistan’s Islamic Emirate govt to Delhi in almost a month’s time. The trip follows last month’s landmark visit by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and is designed to translate political goodwill into concrete trade. In a dramatic gesture timed for Azizi’s arrival, Afghanistan’s national carrier Ariana Afghan Airlines this week slashed cargo rates on the Delhi route by more than half, effective immediately, and offered exclusively to India. “Earlier, Ariana was charging $2 per kilogram for cargo between Delhi and Kabul. Now, it has been instructed to reduce the rate to 80 cents per kg from Delhi to Kabul and $1 per kg from Kabul to Delhi,” said Mawlawi Bakhturahman Sharafat, the airline’s director general. He described the move as unprecedented, emphasizing that “no such discounts have been given to any other foreign routes” and that “the special discounts are only for India routes. This shows the strong relationship between the 2 countries.” During his October visit, … Continue reading Afghan Trade Minister Nooruddin Azizi will visit India