India will send help to Afghanistan via Pakistan, wheat consignment will start from February: Report

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India will send help to Afghanistan via Pakistan

Islamabad: The supply of wheat consignment to be sent by India via Pakistan to troubled Afghanistan is expected to start next month. According to media reports on Saturday, India and Pakistan have agreed on the modalities of supply of wheat to Afghanistan after months of discussions.

India has been advocating for providing uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan to deal with the humanitarian crisis facing the country. It has already been announced to send 50,000 tonnes of wheat and medicines to Afghanistan via road transport via Pakistan. Pakistan last year allowed India to send 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan using its land route as the humanitarian situation worsened after the Taliban’s capture of Kabul.

Diplomatic sources told ‘The Express Tribune’ newspaper that the work of sending wheat would start in February. As per the prescribed modalities, India has to transport the total quantity of wheat within 30 days of the first consignment. Despite their strained relations, the two countries have decided to cooperate with Afghanistan. The two sides discussed for several weeks to agree on the modalities. Initially, Pakistan wanted to transport humanitarian aid goods to Kabul in its trucks under the United Nations flag. India proposed that food grains be sent to Afghanistan in Indian or Afghan trucks. Later both sides agreed that the wheat would be transported by Afghan trucks and a list of Afghan contractors was shared with Pakistan.

Foreign Office spokesman Asim Iftikhar Ahmed told reporters on Friday that all arrangements have now been made and Pakistan is waiting for the date of the first consignment. India had sent a proposal to Pakistan on October 7 last year seeking a transit facility to send 50,000 tonnes of wheat and life-saving medicines to the people of Afghanistan via Pakistani land and received a reply from Islamabad on November 24.

India will send help to Afghanistan via Pakistan

Asked about humanitarian aid to Afghanistan at an online media briefing in Delhi on Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said the government was committed to providing humanitarian aid to the Afghan people, including food grains, anti-Covid vaccines, and essential life support. Contains protective drugs. He said that at present work is going on for the procurement and transportation of wheat and it takes some time.

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