India sends batch of 5,00,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Afghanistan, MEA confirms

India on Thursday sent a batch of 5,00,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, to Afghanistan. According to a

released by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Saturday, the batch of humanitarian assistance consisting of five lakh COVID vaccines was received by the Taliban extremist group on January 1, 2022. A statement by the MEA mentioned that the humanitarian assistance was handed over to the Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kabul. Further, the ministry said that New Delhi will release another batch of additional five lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine in the coming weeks.

"The government of India has committed to providing humanitarian assistance to Afghan people consisting of food grains, one million doses of COVID Vaccine and essential life-saving drugs," said MEA on Saturday.

It is worth mentioning that New Delhi delivered 1.6 tons of medical assistance to Afghanistan through World Health Organization (WHO).

"In the coming weeks, we would be undertaking the supply of wheat and the remaining medical assistance. In this regard, we are in touch with UN agencies and others for finalizing the modalities for transportation," added the statement. 

International communities raise grave concern over Afghan crisis

It is worth mentioning that the condition of the war-torn country further deteriorated after the extremist group seized power from the democratic Ashraf Ghani-led government on August 15, this year, resulting in the total collapse of the system. Though the Taliban assumed control nearly a month after ousting Ashraf Ghani, it was too late to address the concerns of citizens. Those who were working with government organisations and private companies had to sit at home. Even today, the condition in the conflict-stricken country is unstable. Several international organisations including WHO, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), UNICEF and NHRC who visited Afghanistan raised serious concerns on several occasions.

A top official from NRC who had visited Afghanistan noted that the common people of the country have limited access to their savings as the country has been facing a huge cash crunch since the Taliban came to power. The official highlighted the problem of food scarcity in the capital Kabul and said that families were forced to sleep without having a meal. The NRC official also stated that more than 24 million people require life-saving assistance in Afghanistan, that is driven by conflict, political turmoil, the Coronavirus, economic shocks and the worst drought in more than a generation. However, the Taliban refused to accept it. 

Image: ANI, Twitter/@MEA