Indian Treaty Series

Kabul, 27 June 1975

The Government of the Republic of INDIA

AND

The Government of the Republic of AFGHANISTAN

BEING desirous of promoting further the existing friendly and cultural ties between their two countries

AWARE of the significant role that Indian feature films can play in this regard, and

CONSCIOUS of the need for the import and distribution in Afghanistan of such Indian films on a regular official basis,

HEREBY AGREE as follows, namely :

(1) The Government of India, through an agency or agencies to be appointed by them in this behalf, shall provide, and the Government of Afghanistan, through an agency to be appointed by them in this behalf, shall purchase, annually a certain number of Indian feature films, being not less than 40 (forty). The Government of the Republic of Afghanistan undertakes to ensure that Indian Feature films shall not be imported into Afghanistan through any other agency or from any other source.

(2) The authorised Afghan agency shall prepare for each year a list of 50 (fifty) feature films and the authorised Indian agency or agencies shall supply from this list 40 (forty) films for that year. This list of films shall be supplied by the Afghan agency to the
Indian agency or agencies three months prior to the commencement of the year.

(3) The films to be sold by the Indian agency or agencies and purchased by the Afghan agency in terms of the last preceding clause shall be delivered by the Indian agency or agencies to the Afghan agency in accordance with such time schedule as may be agreed to between them.

(4) The price to be paid for each film shall be such as may be agreed upon between the Indian and the Afghan agencies.

(5) The Afghan agency proposes to purchase a minimum of 40 (forty) Indian feature films during the first year of this Agreement. A list of 50 (fifty) feature films will be submitted by the Afghan agency to the Indian agencies and the latter shall supply at least 40 (forty) films from this list. The price agreed upon between the Afghan and the Indian agencies for the 40 (forty) films is £ 92,000 (Pounds Sterling ninety two thousand only), which worked out to £ 2300 (Pounds Sterling two thousand three hundred only) per film. These 40 (forty) films shall be delivered in accordance with a mutually agreed upon schedule. In the event of any of these films being totally rejected by the Afghan Board of Film Censors, that film shall be returned by the Afghan agency to the Indian agencies and shall be replaced by the latter by an equivalent film. The cost of transportation of the rejected film from Afghanistan to the destination India suggested by the Indian agency and the cost of transportation of the films to be supplied in replacement there of shall be borne by the Afghan agency

(6) The mode of payment of the price to be agreed upon shall be in terms of the Trade Agreement which may be concluded hereafter between the Governments of the Republic of India and the Republic of Afghanistan provided that that Agreement covers feature films. But if that Agreement does not cover feature films, payment shall be made in Pounds Sterling.

(7) For each film to be purchased by the Afghan agency, one print and one trailer together with the requisite publicity material shall be delivered to the Manager of Ariana Afghan Airlines in Delhi or any other authorised representative of the Afghan agency in Delhi.

(8) The prints and trailers of films in terms of the last preceding clause shall be delivered only after the Indian agencies have received payment in full for them.

(9) The Afghan agency shall have the right to exploit in Afghanistan each film purchased under this Agreement for a period of five years reckoned from the date on which the print of the film is delivered to its representative in Delhi.

(10) The exploitation or exhibition of the films purchased by the Afghan agency under this Agreement shall be restricted to the Republic of Afghanistan and the Government of the Republic of Afghanistan shall not exploit or exhibit or allow the exploitation or exhibition of the films outside the Republic of Afghanistan.

(11) The Government of the Republic of Afghanistan shall not make any copy and shall not allow the making of any copy by its own agency or any party whether in Afghanistan or outside of the prints of the films to be acquired under this Agreement.

( 12) Immediately upon the expiry of the period of five years referred to in Article 9, the Afghan agency shall return the prints of all films to the Indian agencies or shall destroy the prints and submit to the Government of India a certificate duly counter signed by the Embassy of India, Kabul that the prints have been destroyed.

(13) This Agreement shall come into force immediately and shall remain in force for a period of five years, each year commencing on the anniversary of the date of signing of this Agreement.

(14) In the event of the Afghan and Indian agencies not being able to agree to the price of films to be purchased in any year or in the event of any dispute arising from the implementation of the Agreement, the matter shall be referred to the respective Governments for consideration.

(15) This Agreement can be terminated by either party giving the other a notice of six months in writing.
DONE in Kabul (Afghanistan) on this the 27th day of June in the year 1975 in English and Dari, both texts being equally authentic.