Air cargo services between India and Afghanistan will be launched soon, an Indian foreign ministry official said on Friday, as the two countries seek to reset ties amid soured relations with common neighbour Pakistan.

During a visit to New Delhi, Afghanistan's Taliban Trade Minister Nooruddin Azizi urged India to boost trade and open cargo hubs. Kabul is seeking access to grains, medicines, and industrial goods after its border with Pakistan was closed following military clashes.

Kabul's air freight corridors with Delhi and the northern Indian city of Amritsar have been "activated", and cargo flights will operate on the sectors "very soon", said Anand Prakash, a joint secretary in the Indian foreign ministry.

"All formalities from our side are over. We are waiting for all the papers from their (Afghan) side ... Once they complete them, the cargo flights will start," Prakash told. 

Indian airlines do not fly to Afghanistan as Pakistan has shut its airspace for them as tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad soared this year and led to their worst clashes in decades.

Afghan carriers have regular passenger connections between Kabul and Delhi.

India and Afghanistan have historically had friendly relations but New Delhi does not recognise the Taliban government, which came to power in Kabul after the withdrawal of U.S.-led NATO forces in 2021.

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