The tension between India and Pakistan has increased after the Pahalgam terror attack. In such a situation, the closure of the attic-wagah border is expected to affect the import of dried fruits of India including almonds, raisins, dried apricots and pistachios, which is expected to increase the domestic prices of these items.
After the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, in which 26 people were killed, most of which were tourists, India took several steps, including immediate closure of the attic land-tradition post, which was used for the movement of some types of goods.
In retaliation, Pakistan has also announced that all trade with India, including trade with a third country through Pakistan, has been suspended immediately. This step may affect India’s exports to Afghanistan.
Exporters said that Afghanistan is a major exporter of these dry fruits in India. New Delhi also imports these goods from Islamabad.
Currently India is trading with Afghanistan through the Attari-Wagah border and postponing trade by Pakistan will affect domestic exports and imports in Kabul.
In 2024–25 (April-January), India’s exports to Afghanistan were US $ 264.15 million, while imports were US $ 591.49 million. Out of this, India’s import of dry fruits was US $ 358 million.
During this period, India’s fruit and dry fruits from Pakistan were US $ 0.08 million. The main items imported from Afghanistan by the site route included dried figs, asafoetida, saffron, dry apricots, pistachios and raisins.
Attari is near Amritsar in Punjab. An importer in Delhi said that the closure of the site route will definitely affect the import of dried fruits from both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Rajiv Batra, president of the Khari Baali Merchant Traders Association, said, “Although there will be no immediate effect as the goods are still in transit, but the imports will stop completely after ten days. After that the prices in the national capital will increase by 20 percent.”
He said, “We will receive fruits but they will come from countries like UAE, Iran and Iraq as these Afghans will work as an alternative route for dry fruits.”