The Ministry of Industry and Commerce spokesman Abdulsalam Javad Akhundzadeh says Afghanistan’s exports carried out regularly in the first three months of 1403 solar year and $304 million have been exported during this period.

Akhundzadeh said that most of these exports were made to Pakistan, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, India, Austria, Uzbekistan, Russia and other countries.

“Afghanistan’s exports and imports during the first quarter of 1403 solar year were about two billion and 577 million dollars, of which 304 million dollars were exports and 2.273 million dollars were imports,” he said.

Meanwhile, members of the private sector asked MoIC to provide more facilities in the field of transportation to increase the country’s exports.

“As much as the facilities are provided to the traders, they can take advantage of these good opportunities,” said Mirwais Hajizadeh, deputy of the Chamber of Agriculture and Livestock.

Economic experts believe that the more Afghan products are marketed in the world markets, the more exports will increase and will positively affect the country’s economic situation.

Earlier, the Islamic Emirate repeatedly emphasized that it has an economy-oriented policy and is trying to become a connecting point in the region in addition to increasing the export of Afghan goods to different countries.

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Women’s rights is an internal issue and it will not be raised at the upcoming international meeting on Afghanistan in Doha, Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), said on Saturday.

Mujahid told a press conference in Kabul that the Islamic Emirate’s conditions for participation in the meeting had been accepted and its delegation would go to Doha to talk and resolve the problems.

He added that the third Doha meeting will discuss economic issues, narcotics and the achievements of the Islamic Emirate.

“Within the framework of the country’s national interests, we ask all countries not to leave the people of Afghanistan alone in these difficult circumstances, but to fulfill their obligations towards the rights of the Afghan people and to contribute to the reconstruction and economic strengthening of Afghanistan and to remove obstacles,” Mujahid said.

He also called on the countries participating in the Doha meeting to engage positively with the Islamic Emirate.

The third UN-sponsored meeting on Afghanistan is scheduled to begin tomorrow (Sunday) in the Qatari capital Doha.

Special representatives of countries on Afghanistan are expected to attend the meeting.

Zabihullah Mujahid will lead IEA’s six-member delegation at the meeting. The delegation includes representatives of IEA’s political office in Qatar, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, counter-narcotics deputyship of the Interior Ministry and Da Afghanistan Bank.

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Following the Pakistani Defense Minister’s remarks about the possibility of operations against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Afghanistan, former prime minister Imran Khan’s Tehreek-Insaf (PTI) on Friday condemned the remarks, saying that Pakistan should not interfere in other countries.

“We don’t allow any interference in our country, so we shouldn’t interfere in any other country,” members of the united opposition in the National Assembly stated in an emergency meeting.

While condemning Asif’s rhetoric, opposition leaders stated that such statements endanger not only the “brotherly” relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan but also regional peace.

“Our ties with India are based on rivalry, and now we are trying to treat Afghanistan similarly. We cannot afford further escalation of the conflict and disorder,” Asad Qaiser, a senior member of PTI, remarked.

He warned that launching attacks inside a neighbouring country would risk pushing the entire region into war.

Omar Ayub, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, highlighted that “even major world powers have faced challenges in Afghanistan, which has always been considered a geostrategic focal point in the region”.

“India is leading many terrorist attacks inside Pakistan. Why didn’t the defence minister remark about launching attacks inside India?” he questioned during a media talk outside parliament. 

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said on Thursday that under Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, the government could target Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) hideouts across the border in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense in a statement, however, slammed the remarks as “careless,” warning of consequences if attacks take place.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), in a press conference on Saturday, also said that IEA will not allow incursion into Afghan soil.

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