AFGHAN-INDIA 2 LST

While it could take many years to develop a mining
industry, the potential is so great that officials and
executives in the industry believe it could attract heavy
investment even before mines are profitable, providing the
possibility of jobs that could distract from generations of
war.
The value of the newly discovered mineral deposits
dwarfs the size of Afghanistan's existing war-bedraggled
economy, which is based largely on opium production and
narcotics trafficking as well as aid from the United States
and other industrialised countries.
Afghanistan's gross domestic product is only about USD
12 billion.
The mineral deposits are scattered throughout the
country, including in the southern and eastern regions along
the border with Pakistan that have had some of the most
intense combat in the American-led war against the Taliban
insurgency, the Times said. PTI