Afghanistan crisis: Prices of dry fruits to go higher in India
Taliban in Afghanistan bans import with India. Dry fruits prices may go higher.
After the Taliban has seized the control of Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, the Taliban has halted India- Afghanistan trade. The takeover of Afghanistan's control by Taliban is leading to a hike in prices of commodities like dry fruits that are imported to India from Afghanistan.
This is the second time that the Taliban took over the country’s government. In 2001, Taliban was removed from power in Afghanistan by US-led forces. They have successfully captured the Afghan capital Kabul on August 15.
As per media reports of News18, "after taking over Kabul, the Taliban had stopped the movement of cargo through the transit routes of Pakistan, thereby stopping exports, imports from the country."
As per the Chambers of Trade and Industry, "India is the largest market for Afghan products in the entire South Asia region. Ever since the Taliban halted the exports to India, the dry fruits prices are on an upward spiral. The buyers are witnessing a price rise of over Rs 200 per kg of almonds, figs, apricots and raisins, pistachio prices have also risen by Rs 250 per kg."
The Federation of Indian Export Organisation, told media agency ANI, "We keep a close watch on developments in Afghanistan. Imports from there come through the transit route of Pakistan. As of now, [the] Taliban have stopped movement of cargo to Pakistan, so virtually imports have been stopped."
According to the Afghan Embassy website, "the bilateral trade between India and Afghanistan stood at the $1.5 billion mark in 2019-2020. On the flip side, India’s exports to Afghanistan touched $1 billion and India’s imports from Afghanistan touched $530 million. The bilateral trade between India and Afghanistan was $1.4 billion in 2020-21. Exports from India were $826 million and imports were aggregated at $510 million in 2020-21. According to the statement put out by the Chambers of Trade and Industry, India and Afghanistan had a bilateral trade of about Rs 10,000 crore" in 2020-2021. It includes goods worth Rs 6,000 crore being exported from India to Afghanistan, and products worth Rs 3,800 crore being imported from Afghanistan to India."
