India has received its first batch of commodities from Afghanistan through the Chabahar port in Iran, The Indian Express reported.
Sources said 20 containers of Afghan dry fruit arrived in Mumbai on ships over the weekend. With this, Afghanistan has for the first time directly sent products to India.
Sources said dry fruits were chosen since the business community wanted to test the waters with goods not perishable.
The Indian embassies in Kabul and Tehran had been working closely with the Afghanistan and Iran governments for the past few months to ensure the shipment goes through the Iranian port, which is an alternative to the Karachi port in Pakistan where export activities are constantly interrupted by political restrictions and high storage cost.
Sources said this was a success of cooperation between India, Iran and Afghanistan.
India officially confirmed participation in the Chabahar port project in May this year, when External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid visited Tehran for the 17th meeting of the India-Iran Joint Commission.