 "In a 'special gesture', India allows 160 Afghan trucks enter India at Attari border")
India has approved the entry of 160 buses from Afghanistan carrying dry fruits and nuts via the Attari border in Punjab as a “special gesture”. This comes a day after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar talked to Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in the first diplomatic exchange between the two countries.
Sources told the Times of India that Pakistan had initially blocked the Afghan trucks access to pass through the border, following which the country’s authorities allowed some of them to unload at Attari.
It is important to note that India does not recognise the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
India decided to close the Attari-Wagah border on April 23, following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam the day before. In the past, Pakistan has permitted one-way trade through this border, allowing Afghan goods to be exported to India, but without allowing any exports in the reverse direction.
In 2021, Pakistan opened its borders for Indian trucks carrying wheat to cross over and reach Afghanistan after the country was hit by famine.
Earlier this week, Jaishankar said he held a “good conversation” with acting Muttaqi during which the two leaders discussed India’s “traditional friendship” with the Taliban-ruled country and the ways to take the bilateral cooperation forward.
Jaishankar also appreciated Muttaqi’s condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed 26 lives.
He also welcomed Muttaqi’s “firm rejection” of what he called “recent attempts to create distrust between India and Afghanistan through false and baseless reports.”
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“Underlined our traditional friendship with the Afghan people and continued support for their development needs. Discussed ways and means of taking cooperation forward,” Jaishankar said.
Muttaqi strongly rejected Pakistan’s allegations of missile attacks by India on Afghanistan, official sources told PTI. It was an apparent reference to a report in a section of the Pakistani media that claimed India had “hired” the Taliban to carry out a “false flag” operation at Pahalgam.
In the phone talks, the Taliban side reiterated its strong condemnation of the Pahalgam attack and rejected Pakistan’s allegations of missile attacks by India on Afghan soil, the sources said.
With inputs from agencies
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