US-Backed India-Afghanistan Trade Show Nets $160Mln In Contracts - State Department

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th September, 2018) The US-backed India-Afghanistan International Trade Show that opened this week in Mumbai has already resulted in contracts valued at more than $160 million, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said during a press briefing on Thursday.

"The United States, Afghanistan and India held the second annual joint trade investment show in Mumbai yesterday," Nauert told reporters. "On the first day alone, more than $160 million in agreements were signed."

She added that many of the deals would support US and Afghan jobs on the supply chain.

The spokeswoman stressed that the event aims to strengthen regional economic partnership and display the latest Afghan products and opportunities for investors in Afghanistan.

More than 2,000 international businesses are taking part in the show, she noted.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the governments of India and Afghanistan are hosting the second annual trade show, dubbed "Passage to Prosperity: India-Afghanistan International Trade and Investment Show from September 12-15 in Mumbai.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited India last week along with Defense Secretary James Mattis Mattis for the first 2+2 Dialogue with their Indian counterparts Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi.