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Updated November 18th, 2021 at 09:12 IST

India ready to send wheat to Afghanistan; consignment likely to be shipped via Pak: Report

Islamabad, in a show of regional rivalry and thwarted relations with India, has been disrupting the food grain supply to the hunger stricken Afghan territory.

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
India
IMAGE: AP | Image:self
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India has agreed to step forward and ease Afghanistan’s worsening hunger crisis, and food insecurity by supplying 50,000 tons of wheat in order to mitigate the neighbouring country’s ongoing woes that have spiralled for worse since the Taliban’s political takeover, reports revealed on Wednesday. The consignment is expected to be shipped via a route in Pakistan, an Afghan government official confirmed in a report carried by The New York Times.

Islamabad, in a show of regional rivalry and thwarted relations with India, has been disrupting the food grain supply to the hunger-stricken Afghan territory. This, for decades, has affected the delivery of life-saving assistance to Kabul from India, the newspaper cited several officials as saying. Pakistan standing in the way of India’s supply of aid has “haunted the fragile country", they added.

On Wednesday, the security chiefs from Iran and Russia met in New Delhi, making appeals to India to send humanitarian assistance to the war-ravaged territory. The high-level meeting came after the World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations warned that the Afghans are potentially on the verge of starvation with nearly 14 million unable to meet food requirements any longer.

Pakistan delays India's Afghanistan aid's shipment approvals, gives no clear reason 

India’s willingness to send help came after Islamabad made calls for the international community to send “uninterrupted” aid to Afghanistan, and until recently agreed to let Indian wheat shipment pass via Islamabad route to Kabul. The WFP has warned that only 5% of the Afghan population has enough to eat and that the country has become devoid of wheat for over 2.5 million population due to the severe drought that hit last year. 

Indian officials condemned Pakistan for delaying approvals for their request of sending wheat and medicine through 400 miles of Pak’s territory. The request, as per NYTimes, was made at least seven weeks ago but was ignored by neighbouring Pakistan. Islamabad’s leader Imran Khan in a meeting with Acting Foreign Minister of the Afghan Taliban's Interim Government Amir Khan Muttaqi agreed to act “favourably” and consider Afghans’ request to let India’s shipment of wheat pass through its territory. Although Pakistan’s government officials made no comments on what took them so long to give a nod to India despite that the transit could be granted. 

“The humanitarian imperative must be separated from political discussions for the sake of the millions of Afghans in desperate need of food and emergency assistance as the harsh winter quickly engulfs the country,” Mary-Ellen McGroarty, who heads the World Food Program’s operations in Afghanistan said a conference, referring to Pakistan’s delay. 

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Published November 18th, 2021 at 09:11 IST

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