One year of Taliban takeover: 'Hing' spices up India-Afghanistan trade

However, the quantity imported isn't to meet overall demand, say traders; plans are on to start producing the condiment at home

The price of Hing (Asafoetida) in Khari Baoli near Chandni Chowk, Delhi has shot up more than 30 per cent the past two years.

“The import of Hing from Afghanistan had dropped significantly, especially during the past one year after the Taliban takeover. Though imports have resumed, the quantity is not sufficient to meet demand,” said Sidharth Batra, a trader in Khari Baoli, which is considered to be Asia's largest spice market.

Eighty five per cent of the Hing that India imports comes from Afghanistan, with smaller quantities coming from countries such as Uzbekistan, Iran and Kazakhstan. Indian cuisines are incomplete without a pinch of the pungent spice. While Indians have been using Hing for ages, the spice was never produced domestically as the plant grows in cold and dry conditions.

A year after the Taliban’s ascent to power in Kabul, India’s trade with its South Asian neighbour is slowly getting back on track. While exports from India to Afghanistan dropped to $24 million in August last year when Taliban returned to power in a bloodless coup, they clawed back to $48 million in June. On the other hand, imports have varied from month to month, clocking $27.9 million in June, of which more than 67 per cent is Hing ($17.6 million).

India also exports Hing especially for its diaspora in the US, the UAE and the UK after processing it. In FY22, India imported Hing worth $104 million and exported processed Hing worth $12.5 million.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting foreign minister of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, said earlier this month that the Taliban sought to export more goods to India via Pakistan. “If we have allowed Pakistan to transfer its goods to (Central) Asian countries, we can also send our goods to India via Pakistan,” he said.

While India has not recognised the Taliban government yet, it reopened its embassy in Kabul in June after shutting it down last August. It has, however, been extending humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. On Saturday, the Ministry of External Affairs said India despatched the tenth batch of medical supplies as part of India’s ongoing humanitarian assistance. “In view of the urgent appeals made by the United Nations to assist the Afghan people, India has so far supplied 32 tonnes of medical assistance in ten batches, which includes essential life-saving medicines, anti-TB medicines, 500,000 doses of Covid vaccine etc. These medical consignments have been handed over to the World Health Organization (WHO) and Indira Gandhi Children Hospital, Kabul,” it said.

Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha during the monsoon session on whether the government proposes to sign a bilateral trade agreement with the government of Afghanistan, especially to tap Lithium, which is abundantly available in that country, the Ministry of External Affairs answered in the negative. “There is no proposal for such a bilateral trade agreement with Afghanistan,” it said.

Meanwhile, India has started making efforts to produce Hing at home. Scientists at CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource, Palampur (IHBT) are on a mission to grow Hing in the Indian Himalayas. The first sapling has been planted in Himachal Pradesh’s Kwaring village in Lahaul valley in 2020. It takes approximately five years for the production of Hing from its roots.

“When Hing is harvested for the first time, the quality won’t be good. But slowly, over a period of time, the quality will improve. But it will be difficult to match the quality of Afghani Hing,” said Lal Mani Goswami, another trader at the Khari Baoli market.