India to send 20,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan

India has promised to send 20,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan as humanitarian aid through the Chabahar Port of Iran in partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP).

The Government of India last year signed an agreement with the UNWFP to provide 50,000 MT of wheat as humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan, where almost 19 million people, or half of the country’s population were facing food insecurity ever since the country went back under the control of the Taliban on August 15, 2021.

To address the current humanitarian situation, India on Tuesday announced its partnership with UNWFP for the delivery of 20,000 MT of wheat for the people of Afghanistan through the Chabahar Port of Iran.

Also Read | Wheat growers fear crop loss as temperature hits above-normal range

The announcement was made during the first meeting of the India-Central Asia Joint Working Group (JWG) on Afghanistan in New Delhi.

The situation in the war-ravaged country came up for extensive deliberations at the meeting.

India and five central Asian countries asserted that Afghanistan’s soil must not be used for any terrorist activities and called for formation of a “truly inclusive” political structure in Kabul that respects rights of all Afghans, including women and minorities.

The statement said the officials at the deliberations discussed regional threats of terrorism, extremism, radicalisation and drug trafficking and also deliberated on the possibilities to coordinate efforts to counter these threats.

India had last year supplied almost 45 tonnes of medical assistance, which included essential life-saving medicines, anti-TB medicines, 5,00,000 doses of Covid vaccine, and medical/surgical items. In addition, India had also supplied 40,000 MTs of wheat for the people of Afghanistan through Pakistan.