India To Send First Shipment Of Wheat To Afghanistan Through Pakistan Today

India managed to deliver large quantities of life-saving medicines and other supplies as part of its humanitarian aid to the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan

Afghan children use a hand-pump to fetch water along a street in Kandahar on February 21, 2022.| AFP

New Delhi: In a bid to extend humanitarian support, India is set to deliver its first shipment of 10,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan through Pakistan land routes after months of negotiations with Islamabad from today.

India had been working towards finalising the modalities with Pakistan in the last few months. The shipment will be sent through the Attari-Wagah land border crossing, according to news agency PTI sources.

In October last year, India had sent a proposal to Pakistan seeking the transit facility to send 50,000 tonnes of wheat to the people of Afghanistan via Pakistani soil, and it received a positive response from Islamabad on November 24.

On this matter, both sides remained in touch to finalise the modalities for the transportation of the shipments.

India’s Aid To Afghanistan

Also, India managed to deliver large quantities of life-saving medicines and other supplies as part of its humanitarian aid to the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

In its fifth consignment, India delivered medical supplies on Saturday. India has been pitching for providing unimpeded humanitarian aid to Afghanistan to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the country.

India has still not recognised the new regime in Afghanistan and has been pitching for the formation of a truly inclusive government in Kabul besides insisting that Afghan soil must not be used for any terrorist activities against any country.

India remained concerned over the recent political developments in the nation.

In its effort to ensure peace, India hosted a regional dialogue on Afghanistan on November 10 that was attended by NSAs of Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

The participating countries vowed to work towards ensuring that Afghanistan does not become a safe haven for global terrorism and called for the formation of an “open and truly inclusive” government in Kabul with representation from all sections of Afghan society.

(With PTI inputs)