Officials from the Kandahar Chamber of Commerce and Investment say that 294,000 tons of fresh and dried fruit have been exported from the province to foreign countries over the past year.

According to them, the total value of these exports amounts to $519 million.

Abdulbaqi Bina, Deputy Head of the Kandahar Chamber of Commerce and Investment, says the products were exported to India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Canada and several other countries.

Meanwhile, fresh and dried fruit traders are calling on the government to provide alternative transit routes, new markets, and greater facilitation for obtaining visas and transportation for the export of these products.

This comes as nearly 59,000 tons of fresh and dried fruit were exported from Kandahar to foreign countries

Aimal Wali Khan, the President of Awami National Party (ANP) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has urged the Pakistani government to address tensions with neighboring countries, particularly Afghanistan, through serious diplomatic engagement.

Speaking to reporters in Islamabad on Thursday, Wali Khan said the ongoing tensions are causing the greatest harm to ordinary people, especially those in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

“War is not a permanent solution to any problem,” he stressed.

Wali Khan called on Islamabad to pursue a serious diplomatic approach to de-escalate tensions with Afghanistan and other neighboring countries.

Afghanistan and Malaysia have emphasized the need to expand defense cooperation, particularly in training and technical fields, the Afghan Embassy in Malaysia said.

According to the embassy, Shoaib Baryalai, First Director of the Political Directorate at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Naqibullah Ahmadi, acting head of Afghanistan’s embassy in Malaysia, met with the Deputy Secretary-General of Malaysia’s Ministry of Defense.

The two sides discussed what the embassy described as “positive progress” in relations between Afghanistan and Malaysia.

The meeting focused on expanding cooperation between the two countries’ defense ministries in educational and technical areas.

Both sides also stressed the importance of further strengthening bilateral relations based on mutual interests.