India-Afghan air freight corridor to open soon

The long-awaited India-Afghanistan air freight corridor will take off in the next few days, government said on Friday.

"The freight corridor between India and Afghanistan is on the verge of becoming a reality," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Gopal Baglay told the weekly media briefing here.

The first Indian flight, which will fly over the Pakistani airspace like civilian planes do, will take off either this weekend or early next week, he said, adding that to start with it could be a monthly flight or fortnightly.

The idea is not to start a daily flight at the moment, Baglay said, adding there are difficulties in reaching Kabul by road.

Standard Operating Procedures will be in force, he said.

It will carry Indian products to Afghanistan and vice versa, Baglay added.

The air corridor plan has long been in the making since there are difficulties in reaching Kabul by road.

--IANS

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