AMRITSAR: Even when Taliban’s taking over has not broken the trade link with Afghanistan, importers, local traders and retailers here have allegedly jacked up the prices of Afghan dry fruits by creating an artificial scarcity to set off panic buying in the festive season.
Sources at Attari’s Integrated Check Post (ICP) said barring a couple of days post August 15, when the Taliban entered Kabul, the import from Afghanistan had not dipped. A source said: “Last week, almost two dozen truckloads of dry fruits and fresh fruits from Afghanistan reaced the ICP daily, and once even 49 trucks passed, which is normal compared with last year’s figures.”
Besides dry fruits, Afghanistan also exports mulethi condiment and grapes to the Indian market. Even a day after Taliban entered Kabul, eight truckloads of dry and fresh fruits had arrived India via the Attari land border.
The source said: “There was some delay since Pakistan had closed the Chaman border, and that could have trigger panic buying, giving the hoarders a chance to create an artificial scarcity.”
