Raju for adding more cities to Indo-Afghanistan air corridor

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju today called for adding more cities and products to the recently launched India-Afghanistan air corridor to further strengthen bilateral ties.
He also said that India can offer technical expertise to better handle perishables and time bound cargo from the neighbouring country.
The two countries, he added, can work together to standardise testing and export cargo commodities within Afghanistan itself as it would help in reduction of their holding times once they reach Indian airports.
"Let us now go beyond Delhi and Kabul and focus on adding more cities and products to this corridor," Raju said here at the inauguration of India-Afghanistan Trade and Investment Show here.

The minister said both the countries have huge potential in trade and commerce which largely lies untapped at this stage.
"We have tried to bridge the reasons which have prevented us from reaching this optimum potential. One main reason continues to be the lack of viable land connectivity. Mitigating this problem received a tremendous boost this year as we launched the India Afghanistan air corridor," he added.

So far nine such flights already operated successfully and another flight is due, he said adding another flight will operate day after tomorrow.
"We have set up an inter-ministerial groups with dedicated nodal officers for expeditious processing of cargo through this corridor. I see tremendous potential in this initiative," Raju said.

He added that huge opportunities exist in areas like skill development, aviation and sharing technology on setting up of cold storages.
The bilateral trade between the countries dipped to USD 799.24 million in 2016-17 from USD 834.5 million in the previous fiscal.