New Delhi [India], October 13 : FICCI on Monday organised a Business Interactive meeting with the visiting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan, Amir Khan Muttaqi and the accompanying high-level delegation. The Foreign Minister of Afghanistan assured the Indian Industry that the required peace and tranquillity have been established in Afghanistan, and conducive conditions have been created for enhancing economic engagement between the two countries. The Afghan Foreign Minister emphasised that bilateral trade has already reached $1 billion.
According to an official release, while several Indian companies have already resumed operations in various projects, Afghanistan is making its best efforts to enhance India's collaborations and strengthen bilateral economic engagements.
The Foreign Minister of Afghanistan emphasised healthcare, education, infrastructure, logistics, aviation, agriculture, and banking. He also highlighted the role to be played by FICCI and the Afghan Chamber for realising these objectives.
Several Indian companies have resumed their operations, including KEC and Max Hospital. Likewise, Amity University is also supporting several Afghan students and expressed great willingness to create a collaborative campus.
The Indian Industry representatives highlighted that the visa remains a severe bottleneck and needs to be resolved immediately for smoother movement of businessman from both sides, logistic including the movement of goods between the two counties, needs to be streamlined to avoid delay in execution of projects by Indian companies in Afghanistan.
The Indian industry is keen to engage with Afghanistan in all possible manners, and the Afghan Minister assured of creating and maintaining conducive conditions for enhancing economic cooperation.
Earlier, Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi invited India to invest in the country's mineral resources and requested that New Delhi help facilitate trade by opening the Wagah border, calling it the "fastest trade route" between the two countries.
Adressing a press conference in New Delhi on Sunday, Muttaqi said, "I met the Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar and talked about economy, trade, and other issues."
"During the meeting, the EAM announced the upgrading of their mission in Kabul to Embassy level and the diplomats of Kabul will arrive in New Delhi," he added.
Futher, Muttaqi stated that both countries had reached an agreement on "trade and economy."
Highlighting sectors for potential collaboration, Muttaqi said that Afghanistan had extended a formal invitation to India to invest in areas such as minerals, agriculture, and sports.
"We also invited the Indian side to invest, particularly in minerals, agriculture, and sports. We also discussed the Chabahar port... We also requested the opening of the Wagah border as it is the fastest and easiest trade route between India and Afghanistan," he said.