Humanitarian Assistance: First shipment of 2500 MT of Indian wheat dispatched to Afghanistan via Pakistan

• Integrity Education, Delhi
• 23, Feb 2022

The first convoy of 50 trucks carrying 2500 MT of wheat assistance from India to Afghanistan via Pakistan was flagged off today in a ceremony at Amritsar in Punjab. Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla along with Afghan Ambassador Farid Mamundzay and World Food Program Country Director Bishaw Parajuli, flagged off the convoy. 

External Affairs Ministry said the shipment is part of the commitment made by the Government to supply 50 thousand MT of wheat for the people of Afghanistan. The wheat assistance will be delivered in multiple consignments and will be handed over to the United Nations World Food Program in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. India signed an agreement with the WFP for the distribution of wheat within Afghanistan.

The Ministry said India remains committed to its special relationship with the people of Afghanistan. India has already supplied 5 lakh doses of COVAXIN, 13 tons of essential lifesaving medicines, and 500 units of winter clothing. These consignments were handed over to the World Health Organisation and the Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kabul.

High Commissioner of Afghanistan in India Farid Mamundzay has reached here to receive the wheat for Afghanistan. While interacting with the media  Farid Mamundzay said that whenever Afghanistan needed any help, India had helped Afghanistan as an elder brother. He said that now India is going to give 50 thousand metric tons of wheat, prior to it India has provided buses, medical help, and other articles and eatables for children. He said that Afghanistan is debted to India. Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that in the future also India will extend help to  Afghanistan if required.

AIR correspondent reports that India decided to send humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan by providing wheat following acute food insecurity being faced by the people of Afghanistan. FCI will deliver the wheat of Rabi Market Season 2020-21 in 50-kilogram jute bags. The sacks are double bagged for the preservation of the consignment from moisture and any infection. The shelf life of the wheat is minimum of one year from the date of dispatch. Each bag is stamped with the text: “Gift from the people of India to the people of Afghanistan” in English, Pashto, and Dari.

Sources : News on AIR