Indo-Afghan relations to generate hydro-carbon resources

New Delhi, Apr 9: India should cultivate its bilateral relations with Afghanistan, in order to generate hydro carbon resources from the Central Asian countries and the Caspian Sea region, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM).

The Chamber, in a paper brought out on 'Afghanistan: A bridge between India's increased trade&economic interactions with Central Asia', feels that the war-torn country can be the bridge that will take forward India's economic relationship, not only in Central Asia and the Caspian Sea region but also in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.

In the wake of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's four-day visit to India starting today, it is the best time for India to explore business opportunities in the above areas, it said.

Afghanistan is full of hydro carbon resources and a great deal of its reserves still remain untapped. With India's potential to discover and tap these resources, the region can be explored by upstream companies in oil sectors like ONGC and Oil India Ltd, the paper said.

ASSOCHAM is also of the view that there is immense potential between India and Afghanistan in the field of small developmental projects including healthcare, agricultural research and education.

Releasing the Paper, ASSOCHAM President Anil K Agarwal said, India and Pakistan should consider expansion of their domestic markets through economic interventions and both the countries should keep in mind the desire to promote mutually beneficial bilateral trade.

The two countries should also consider reductions and elimination of obstacles to bilateral trade so that their economic ties expand their existing volume, as also diversify their trade basket by giving one another preferential tariff regime which are little cumbersome.

If the above measures are considered effectively, both the countries could gain from trade and the volume of trade could be increased to the extent of 700 million dollars by 2010, from the current level of less than 500 million dollars, it added.

UNI