August 24, 2020: Though the combined annual trade with Central Asia is less than USD 2 billion, the level of trade does not reflect our political will that we enjoy with Central Asian countries, said Manish Prabhat, Joint Secretary (ERS), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Addressing a webinar titled ‘The Way Forward for Developing India-Central Asia Air Corridor’, organised by FICCI held on Friday, Prabhat said, “The combined annual trade with Central Asia is less than USD 2 billion. The level of trade does not reflect the political will that we enjoy with Central Asian countries.”
He further said that Central Asian countries are in the position to support air traffic from India and laid emphasis on the potential of markets between India and Kazakhstan.
Vandana Aggarwal, Senior Economic Advisor, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India said that establishing an air corridor will be very useful in passenger growth and goods traffic.
“Central Asian countries need to look at ways to ease regulation of our carriers in terms of landing rights, parking etc.,” she added.
She also highlighted that India has been looking at digitization of documents for seamless connectivity with the region.
Source: KNN INDIA
