Afghanistan’s chief executive courts Indian investment
47
NEW DELHI: Afghanistan’s chief executive Abdullah Abdullah urged Indian businesses on Wednesday to invest in the conflict-torn nation where China and Pakistan have also been jostling for a foothold.
India is one of the leading donor nations to Afghanistan and the largest in the South Asia region, but trade between India and Afghanistan stood at just $683 million in 2013-14.
“Our geographical position as a land bridge offers immense opportunities to investors in terms of trade, transit and connectivity,” Mr Abdullah said at a meeting with top industry bodies in the Indian capital.
“It is imperative to harness this potential. The mutual goodwill that exists between our peoples and the leaders must translate into a mutually beneficial relationship,” he said.
Expresses hope that Afghanistan-Iran-India transit agreement, centred around the port of Chabahar, ‘will happen soon’
He expressed the hope that the proposed Afghanistan-Iran-India transit agreement centred around the strategic Iranian port of Chabahar would “happen in near future”.
Last May, India signed a multi-million-dollar memorandum of understanding with Iran to develop the port on its south-eastern coast, but the deal has been stuck since.
“The development of Chabahar port in Iran is key to India-Afghanistan trade. It can act as a gateway towards opening new energy and trade routes not only in Afghanistan but in Central Asia as well,” he said.
Iran has been seeking international investment to help complete the port, which Kabul says will provide a gateway for Indian companies seeking to do business in Afghanistan and Central Asia, as well as in Iran.
The port will help India compete with China, which is investing heavily in the Pakistani port of Gwadar, in the race to boost business interests in the region.
New Delhi has been a key supporter of Kabul’s post-Taliban government and Mr Abdullah said their ties had been “re-energised” after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Afghanistan in December.
Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2016
Read more
Afghan chief executive arrives in India to attend counter-terrorism conference
Made by India: Modi to inaugurate new Afghan parliament building
Modi sees Pakistan as bridge to Afghanistan
Modi steps into Pakistan-UAE breach
India wants to deny Pakistan strategic depth in Afghanistan: US report
Mistrust and hostility: A Pakistani journalist in Afghanistan
On DawnNews
Comments (47) Closed
Feb 04, 2016 07:05am
Pakistan must participate in this economic project. We will not gain much by giving China say in our country. China is having a expansion mind set by looking towards Pakistan, Srilanka. We must safe guard our national interest and work with our immediate neighbour.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 07:12am
Why Afghanistan need to spend 4 times more by importing products from India via Chabahar whereas they can easily import products at 4 times less amount from Pakistan and China using our famous CPEC corridor... It will save Afghanistan billions of dollars in foreign exchange will balance their budget... Saving valuable foreign exchange will make them stronger nations and they may not need to borrow money at hefty price...
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 07:12am
Afghani peoplenare jewel at heart. Interacted to a few.. Indians are always with you...
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 08:01am
Afghanistan is a free country .... its leadership can make deals consistent with its national interest.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 08:05am
Good to see India interest in pak. Hope it is with good intention of peace nd properity in the region.
Afghan is an uneven land.first priority of investment shld b construction of water reservoirs and electricity to cultivate high altitude plains in Afghanistan via pumpng store water with the electricity.
2 Afghan 90% forest finished since 70 as thr is no alternate energy resources and industry to minimize dependecy on wood.
3 minerals and oil and gas exploration for industry nd business to strengthen Afghan economy.
Best
Wellwisher
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 08:26am
Indians love Afghani People!!. Personally met several & I was mesmerized by their attitude & behavior!. Wonderful people!!.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 08:54am
Hope Afghanistan becomes a strong ,self reliant country soon .we Indians will do what ever we can with our capacity .
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 09:07am
Our Afghan brothers will surely get investment from us.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 09:16am
India, Pakistan and Afghanistan are three brothers, one brother left home while other wants to return
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 09:44am
Chabahar port is a win win situation for India, Afghanistan and Iran. It will help all three countries economically and strategically.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 10:13am
India stands solidly with our Afghan brothers..
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 10:37am
Afghani people will remember that which country helped them in development and peace.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 10:45am
Regional prosperity & stability can be achieved through such measures
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 11:28am
If trade is difficult via Pakistan, then it will be through chahbahar.It would make Afghanistan & Indias trade, diplomacy to a new height.Stable & democratic Afghanistan having its independent defence force is in Indias interest & all Indians are proud of Afghans.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 11:53am
Pak needs to finish CPEC corridor as soon as possible with full focus and devotion. So far so good. Let's not get distracted by Afghanistan and India. We know how Afghans have behaved given Pak has hosted 3mio of their people since 1980's and how India backed out of Iran-Pak-India oil pipeline and wasted precious years, intentionally!! Let's not pay any heed to them and let's maintain our focus.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 12:25pm
India-Iran-Afgan economic partnership is a positive sign even for Pakistan as economic cooperation amongst neighbors is likely to promote peace in the region. However a point to ponder is why to miss not only the land route but also the shortest route (Lahore - Peshawar - Turkham). If south Asia want to prosper it need to learn doing it mutually and not in segments. Actions speak louder than words, i suppose.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 01:13pm
I fail to understand the fantstic businesses coming out from Afghnistan. India can use the Irani port as much as they like as land access is out of the question. All Indian activities will be monitored by PN and in a conflict be terminated. Pakustan future is with CPEC and nothing can be compared with it.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 01:17pm
@Vivek I don't think so. There is nothing brotherly about Hindustan and Pakistan and both countries are pointing over 100 nuclear bombs against one another. Indians are not serious about peace and resolving Kashmir.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 01:38pm
Without Pakistan this is a pipe dream and nothing more. How are they going to transfer the goods? Can't do it via land as Pakistan won't let it. Can't do it via sea as Pakistan's economic zone has doubled. So how are they going to transport goods to and fro from India??
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 02:15pm
@Haroon all pak boasting about CPEC. it looks profitable for china not PAK
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 02:29pm
@Murtaza Baloch
The facts are that India did and still does.
Actually, India did want to participate. India wanted to develop a corridor from India to Afghanistan through Pakistan. Afghanistan, we Baloch, Pakistan all stood to benefit from it through transit fees, increased investment in infrastructure and more jobs. Islamabad refused to permit the transit of Indian trucks and goods etc and blocked the deal. It's why the Indians are are now investing in Chabbar port instead as their path to Central Asia. Of course - jobs, investment, money and education are all secondary to Islamabad's supposed rivalry.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 02:41pm
India Iran Afghanistan friendship is based on trust and business. Some people may say that sea root is long but it has own benefit- this riute has no any disturbance by india Pakistan relationship, even if the relationship is not better this route will never be disturbed. Moreover for central asia route its more appropriate because it will go through Iran which is peaceful. One major gain will be diplomatic relations with Afghanistan and Iran will be strongest and Pakistan will be surrounded by india friendly countries. Relationships of Pakistan with Iran and Afghanistan will become more bitter if he don't allow business with India .
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 02:43pm
You can wish (Cha) to your hearts content but (bahar) cannot come with ill-wills.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 02:50pm
@Khwarezmi ACTUALLY WE ARE
WE ARE VERY SERIOUS BUT NOT YOULL
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 02:51pm
I once advised a company that made a certain type of auto component for their global markets. During my research I stumbled upon an import export data from Jebel Ali Free zone Dubai. It showed that a certain product class was routed from Dubai into Karachi Port with some minor modification at Jebel Ali Free Zone. Upon further investigation I found that this product was being imported in large quantities by dealers in Lahore, Karachi, Hyderabad, Quetta etc. from as far as ITaly, Argentina, Brazil etc.
Indian product had a cost advantage of close to 30% and on time deliveries and minimum logistics and warehousing costs.
Later I found that the government increased import duty on this product as its volumes from India had grown. Now it is priced at par with Argentinian, Brazilian and Italian imports.
India can supply most of Pakistan's imports- of same quality in most cases at a significant discount. The CPEC will enable China to proliferate Pakistani shops with their products.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 03:03pm
@M.Saeed : how business interests can be ill wiil, you develop your own corridor and let there be competition with your economic corridors, where is the question of ill will here? May be it is in your mind , sir
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 03:08pm
I think Pak should push all Afgan refugees to India , then India will realise it how brotherly they are. Pakistan should send all Afganies back to either Afganistan or India....
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 03:10pm
All the healthy competition without any conspiracey.....
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 03:42pm
Afghanistan-Iran-India transit thru Chabahar is a pipe dream which isn't going anywhere. First of all the cost of the transit will be much greater than all land route and the land route in Afghanistan has to pass thru the Taliban territory. Without any peace with Taliban ... good luck with even delivering a pack of chewing gum to Kabul.
Both India and Afghanistan know that the cheapest, safest and fastest route between the two is thru Pakistan but they want the trade done on their own terms. This ain't going to happen so now both are trying to send a false alarm to Pakistan that they have other options.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 03:42pm
@Krishna : Dear sir, your statement is absolutely correct in normal context. But, in this case, the Chabahar initiative only surfaced suddenly when China started construction of Gwadar port followed by linking it with China through CPEC. Just see the location of Chabahar in comparison with Gwadar. It is only 104 km down in the Gulf from Gwadar and is in Iranian Baluchistan, as compared to Gwadar in Pakistani Baluchistan. It is a complete case of tit-for-tat and the intent cannot be ignored. Otherwise, India could have initiated normalization of relations with Pakistan and jointly worked to revive centuries old Grand Trunk Road constructed by Sher Shah Suri from Afghan Border in Pakistan to Calcutta, now Kolkata, becoming once again, the back-bone of the most complete communication network..
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 04:02pm
@bryan : I once discovered with awe that, markets in Africa were flooded with surgical equipment that were clearly rusted and bearing the mark, "Made in Karachi". Obviously, they were made in India to damage the reputation of famous Pakistani products. Only in hurry, somebody wrongly printed Karachi for Pakistan.
In the same Africa, I was shown famous Pakistani Basmati rice. It was a shock of life for me when I was told one of the staff that, the rice was mixed with specially "crafted' white stones completely indistinguishable from rice because they were identical in shape, size and color, and intentionally mixed with Pakistani rice to fail its marketing in Africa. Obviously, who took the whole trouble spending large amount of money and why, does not need any explanation
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 04:08pm
@Reza Baloch : But, you have completely forgotten about the similar corridor asked by Pakistan from India in early 50's for connecting East and West wings of Pakistan through rail and road links, that India hatefully refused. If it was there, the two wings would have integrated in no time.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 04:47pm
@tirah wal Valid points but Afghanistan is looking for investors and that is not possible while there country is at war and there is mayhem. Also Afghanistan is number 2 for the highest corruption after Somalia. The Government of Afghaniatsn are the only ones who can resolve these two problems and then they will get investors from Pakistan, India, China and the west.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 04:48pm
@Vivek Which brother wants to return, please provide some proof of the same.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 04:48pm
Abdullah Abdulah is interested in expanding his own business, like Karzai did.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 04:56pm
@M.Saeed In the UK Pakistani rice is often from India, they know that the Pakistani brand is best and they just use our name, for their inferior rice.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 05:08pm
@Deepak Kumar - "Afghan people jewel at hear t" why not take 2 million Afghan refugees still in Pakitan ?
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 05:34pm
@Ayaz "Afghanistan is a free country"
Only inside Kabul. Everywhere else it's either the Taliban or other warlords.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 05:47pm
Let's say something heavy needs to be shipped from New Delhi to Kabul. You are the logistics and shipping manager of this company in New Delhi. Which below option will you prefer?
Option 1 (sea route to Chabahar port):
First it will need to be loaded onto a truck and shipped to Mumbai over the land route. Then it will be loaded onto a container ship and shipped to Chabahar over sea route. Then again it will need to be offloaded onto a truck and shipped to Kabul over the land route thru Taliban territory.
Option 2 (Land route thru Pakistan):
Load it on a truck in New Delhi and cross the border into Pakistan and onto Lahore then over all one-way motorway to Peshawar and on wards to Kabul. Ten times less distance than option 1 with point-to-point delivery without offloading along the way.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 06:13pm
@lafanga Your logic is valid but if that route is off limit the India had to go for alternative route. Pakistan has categorically said no to India for land route.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 06:46pm
@lafanga That is what India wants and that is what Pakistan don't want to give land route to middle eastern countries. If Pakistan don't do anything and just give passage to India to Middle east, think of revenue generated in terms of duty, tolls, and side line business along that route.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 07:00pm
@AIZ I agree with your suggestion 100%
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 07:21pm
Our PM Modi and Abdullah looks like brother.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 07:58pm
This is nothing but a dream and just a pressure tactics against Pak.
Nothing can be done in Afghanistan without Taliban onboard. Everyone knows and understand it including US that all roads to peace and stability in Afghanistan go through Islamabad. Therefore, the key to all the developments in Afghanistan lies in the hands of Pak and without guaranteeing Pak security nothing meaningful can be done in Afghanistan.
If the former National Alliance group and India is serious about peace, stability and development of Afghanistan then it is about time that it stop playing games with Pak and work towards forming a good working relationship between the countries which will benefit all. The sooner they realize it the better.
Recommend
0
Feb 04, 2016 08:12pm
@Ahmed USA It is for the same reason you are importing from Dubai by paying thru' your nose instead of cheaper imports from India
Recommend
0
Feb 06, 2016 05:25pm
@M.Saeed Chabahar was Partially built in 1990's when the second round of sanctions hit Iran. So your assertion that it came about after CPEC is incorrect. If it was NOT for sanctions it would be completely built in early nineties... We are putting $ 1 Billion as announced in September 2015 to finish building the port..
Recommend
0
Feb 07, 2016 01:30am
@Ahmed USA :Two points 1)Pakistan and Afghanistan should be friends first and not mired in the Taliban and border problems and 2)The completion date of the CPEC is unknown,if it ever happens, and is questionable if Pakistan will reap its benefits,if any, and allow it to be used by Afghanistan.At present Pakistan is not on friendly terms with any of its neighbours and is trying new experiment with China in the form of a corridor.
Recommend
0
