Medicinal plants from Afghanistan
Not every popular perishable commodity is edible. In an attempt to turn Afghanistan into an exporting country, President Ashraf Ghani inaugurated a new air corridor between Afghanistan and India in June, after relations had soured between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The first flight took off from Kabul, with an Afghan Airlines A330 carrying 60 tonnes of medicinal plants in its belly, bound for New Delhi. The value of the cargo was about US$11 million dollars, said the Hindustani Times. A second flight, from Kandahar to New Delhi, carried 40 tonnes of dried fruit later that same month. The plan, both governments said, is to increase frequencies to five flights per week between Kandahar and Kabul to New Delhi. The air corridor, the report said, will add a new dimension to the current $700 million worth of trade between the two nations.