India is on board and set to send its first shipment of wheat to the people of Afghanistan through Pakistani land routes after months of negotiations with Islamabad.
Foreign Secretary of India Harsh V Shringla on Monday flagged off the first consignment of humanitarian aid of 50,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan. The shipment was flagged-off in the presence of Afghanistan’s Ambassador to India, Farid Mamundzay.
Farid Mamundzay expressed his gratitude following the gesture shown by the Indian government. "I thank the Indian government for the generosity displayed at a time when more than 20 million Afghans are facing a crisis or the worst levels of food insecurity in more than 3 decades. I also thank WFP and our mission in India for their contribution to make this “worthy cause” possible under challenging circumstances. I hope there will be no more barriers to humanitarian aid today, tomorrow and forever," Mamundzay said in a tweet.
Officials said about 2,000 MT wheat will be sent in 41 Afghani trucks to the crisis-hit country.
According to HT reports, a high-level meeting of officials of Land Port Authority of India (LPAI), Border Security Force (BSF), customs, Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and Punjab Police was held at the Integrated Check Post (ICP), Attari on Monday.
As per modalities finalised with Pakistan, the shipment will be sent through the Attari-Wagah land border crossing, people familiar with the development said.
The Afghani trucks will take the wheat through Pakistan’s Torkham border to Jalalabad in Afghanistan.
India had sent a proposal to Pakistan on October 7 last year, seeking the transit facility to send 50,000 tonnes of wheat to the people of Afghanistan via Pakistani soil, and it received a positive response from Islamabad on November 24.
(with sources inputs)
