Afghanistan makes its first onion export to India via Pakistan

Afghanistan has exported its first consignment of onions to India via Pakistan, the local media reported on Monday.

The consignment is expected to take less than a month to arrive in India.

The exports of onions between Afghanistan and India through the border of Pakistan took place on Sunday, according to Tolo News, a media organisation in Afghanistan

“Today we are loading these onions. We have contracted 8,000 tons, and this is the first truck you see,” Habib Rahman a trader said talking to the publication.

Aghanistan was exporting onions worth 9.1 million local currency, a big order for the traders.

Habib Jan considered that it was a big consignment to the foreign market that would financially assist the country. 

The local traders expressed hope for a continuation of such export deals for other vegetables as well, demanding the Afghan government to build cold storage to stock vegetables. 

“Provide us with improved seeds in time and build standard cold storage so that we can keep our vegetables in it, and there is also a road problem that needs attention," Aziz Rehman, a farmer in Afghanistan said. 

The deputy governor of Kunar, Abdullah Haqqani, said he and his team were striving to provide all facilities to the Afghan exporters and stood behind them.

“From the hard work and efforts of our farmers, we got these benefits," Mayor Asadabad Nazar Mohammad Atif said adding that the country was making progress in the field.